Spot basis bids for corn at elevators, processors and river terminals on Thursday in the US Midwest were mostly unchanged to mixed and steady to up slightly for soyabeans, grain merchants said. Corn bids rose by 3 cents per bushel at a Cincinnati, Ohio elevator after some farmers held back grain while awaiting direction from Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) corn futures. CBOT corn traded within a tight range before the US Department of Agriculture's (USDA) monthly supply/demand reports on Friday.

A Decatur, Illinois, corn processor cut bids by 2 cents per bushel after building up inventories. Soyabean bids were generally steady, but up a penny at the Cincinnati, Ohio, elevator due to slow farmer sales. A river terminal in Seneca, Illinois, increased soyabean bids by 1 cent per bushel due to still-frozen sections of the Illinois River, which impeded barge movement.

Uneasiness prior to Friday's USDA grain reports weighed on CBOT soyabean for a fourth straight session. Analysts on average expect the USDA to raise its forecast of US 2017-18 soyabean ending stocks, and raise its estimate of Brazil's soyabean crop.

Copyright Reuters, 2018