Corn spot basis bids firmed at river terminals around the US Midwest on Friday even as slow export demand forced some dealers at the terminals to sell the grain to interior processors and ethanol plants, merchants said. Corn bids gained 5 cents per bushel along the mid-Mississippi River and 2 cents on the Illinois River, with bids underpinned by lower shipping costs on the Illinois and lower Ohio rivers. Barge freight was steady on the Mississippi.

However, bids remained stronger at interior points than on the river due to the poorest export demand for US corn in 25 years. Dealers on the mid-Mississippi were selling corn to animal feed and sweetener makers instead of exporters that ship grains to the US Gulf, an Iowa merchant said. Soyabean spot basis bids jumped 5 cents per bushel to their highest since late-September at a processor in Decatur, Illinois, bolstered by good crush margins and light farmer sales. US soyabean processors crushed 157.308 million bushels in November, in line with trade estimates of 157.343 million, the largest monthly crush in nearly three years, the National Oilseed Processors Association said on Friday.

Copyright Reuters, 2012