Grain basis levels were mostly stagnant this week even with the sharp sell-off on the board. For the week, US average corn basis was mostly unchanged while the US average soybean basis inched up by 1 cent a bushel.
Processors continue to show very little interest in bidding up basis levels, although this week did bring some modest movement to bean basis at crush facilities as collectively they raised their bids by 1.4 cents. But, ethanol plants were less inclined to move it higher, showing only a modest 0.4 cent advance.
WEEKLY BASIS CHANGES
|
|
CORN |
SOYBEANS |
|
US AVG |
-0.1 C |
+1.2 C |
|
PROCESSOR |
+0.4 C |
+1.4 C |
|
RIVER TERMINALS |
-2.8 C |
-2.0 C |
For river terminals, there was some noticeable weakness for both corn and soybeans. Corn basis at river terminals was off 2.8 cents on the week, while soybean basis was down 2 cents.
Seasonal patterns for corn basis continue to show processors running well below normal for this time of year. Current basis levels are about 20-cents a bushel below the 7-year average basis for ethanol plants. However, river terminals continue to be mostly on par with basis levels for this time of year.
For beans, crush facilities are running nearly 40-cents below their normal basis for this time of year while river terminals are about 20-cents below. Look for river basis to improve steadily heading into May 1. Also, slow farmer selling in April will likely be the norm which should give an added boost to basis levels helping to push them higher.
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