A mostly quiet to slightly weaker market for cash grain this week. The corn market managed to eek out a 1-cent gain while soybean basis was off 1 cents on average across the U.S.
Barge freight, a key determinant for basis along river markets, was mostly stable this week although it did inch up in the lower Mississippi River basin which put added pressure on basis in this region. Overall, soybean bids were off 5 cents on the river while corn basis was down 1.5 cents at river terminals.
For end users, there was little movement in basis at soy and corn plants this week. Soy crush facilities saw spot crush margins back off after 6 weeks of consecutive gains. Soy basis also continues to weaken for Fall delivery as buyers take a risk-off attitude in buying beans this harvest.
Corn, on the other hand, still finds strong bids for fall and early 2019 into the poultry market for AR/MO as drought in that region limits available supplies.
The risk of trading futures, hedging, and speculating can be substantial. FBN BR LLC (NFA ID: 0508695)
