US Gulf FOB corn and soyabean basis offers were mostly steady on Monday, with both markets lacking fresh export interest, traders said. Soft and hard red winter wheat basis offers were mostly steady, underpinned by tight old-crop supplies. Barge freight rates were steady at St. Louis on the Mississippi River and the Illinois River but higher on the lower Ohio River as a lock in Ohio remained closed.

Traders said a number of empty barges waiting to head southward on the Ohio River were stranded as the lock and dam at Belleville, Ohio, remained closed after an accident.

A trader said a grain company's loading operations on the lower Ohio River had been halted by a lack of empty barges.

Soybean basis offers were mostly steady, underpinned by tight supplies but fresh demand was thin.

Soy basis values in the CIF barge market were volatile, with January offers rising 23 cents a bushel at one point before dropping 15 cents, traders said. Bids eased 10 cents.

"A shipper was covering his short positions," a trader said, adding that about 2.8 million bushels of January soybeans traded at $1.00 a bushel premium the CBOT January.

Export interest was thin, with soy importers beginning to switch their purchases to Brazil and Argentina.

Corn basis values were mostly steady, with export demand described as routine by traders.

"There's not much demand at the Gulf. Exporters are just executing orders," a trader said.

Copyright Reuters, 2005