Weekly Cash Comments

Corn continued to find selling pressure in the futures market this week giving up 8 cents a bushel, while soybeans were unchanged for the week. For cash markets, corn basis posted a modest 1-cent advance on average across the US while soybeans were unchanged on the week.

In corn, basis levels were up 3 or more cents a bushel along the Ohio River area and points to the south as barge rates gave up 4 cents a bushel this week on average. At the Gulf, export bids posted a 2 cent advance as two consecutive weeks of +800,000 MT of new sales for old-crop delivery keep basis levels for river terminals relatively firm. For ethanol plants, they showed no significant departure from the norm posting only a 1-cent advance on the week. Ethanol production for the week was down 9,000 barrels per day to 921,000 barrels per day. Plants in the Western Cornbelt bid up basis by around 2 to 5 cents a bushel.

For soybeans, river terminals were the biggest gainers of the week posting a 3-cent increase thanks to a 5-cent advance at the Gulf export market. Weekly export sales were up sharply on old-crop, with a 433,400 MT total for the week. For crushing plants there was little movement this week overall, but a few plants in the Southeast showed strong advances of 10 cents or more.

—Cody Bills