Corn, soy barge bids firm as futures tumble
Basis bids for corn delivered by barge to U.S. Gulf Coast terminals firmed on Monday as Chicago Board of Trade grain and soy futures tumbled, chilling farmer sales of grain into marketing channels that feed the Gulf, traders said.
"We had some momentum (on farmer corn and soybean sales) last week, but it's dead today," one merchandiser said.
CBOT corn futures fell nearly 4% and soybean futures fell 2% to 3% as favorable Midwest weather outlooks bolstered crop production prospects.
After the CBOT close, the U.S. Department of Agriculture rated 74% of the nation's corn crop in good to excellent condition, up a point from last week and the best for this time of year since 2018. Soybean ratings held steady with 66% of the crop rated good to excellent.
Trade worries added to bearish sentiment as U.S. President Donald Trump unveiled sharply higher U.S. tariffs on goods from Japan, South Korea and other countries.
Also, Trump did not announce a trade agreement with China, as some had expected before markets closed for Friday's Independence Day holiday.
At the Gulf on Monday, CIF corn barges loaded in July were bid at 87 cents over Chicago Board of Trade September (CU25) futures, compared to Thursday's last bid of 72 cents over July (CN25) futures. August corn barges were bid at 86 cents over September futures, up 4 cents from Thursday.
FOB export premiums for corn shipped from the Gulf in August held steady at 94 cents over September futures.
For soybeans, CIF July barges were bid at 87 cents over CBOT August (SQ25) futures, compared to Thursday's last bid of 80 cents over July (SN25) futures. August soy barges were bid at 87 cents over August futures, up 5 cents from Thursday.
FOB export premiums for soybeans shipped from the Gulf in August held at 85 cents over August (SQ25) futures.
Weekly export inspections data reflected brisk demand for corn. The USDA reported export inspections of U.S. corn in the latest week at 1,491,062 metric tons, in line with trade expectations for 1,100,000 to 1,615,000 tons.
Weekly soybean export inspections totaled 389,364 tons, near the high end of trade expectations for 150,000 to 400,000 tons, and wheat inspections totaled 436,628 tons, in line with expectations.
Under its daily reporting rules, the USDA confirmed private sales of 135,000 metric tons of U.S. corn to Mexico.
