Corn Premiums Rise as Farmers Slow Sales; Soybean Basis Steady

Cash premiums for corn shipped in April to terminals near New Orleans rose relative to Chicago futures as farmers held remaining supplies from last year’s harvest for higher prices. The soybean basis was steady.

The spot-basis bid, or premium, for corn delivered this month was 55 cents to 60 cents a bushel above May futures, compared with 54 cents to 60 cents yesterday, U.S. Department of Agriculture data show. Bids rose 2 cents for May delivery. The soybean basis for April deliveries was unchanged at 64 cents to 68 cents a bushel.

“Farmers don’t have much of last year’s crops left to sell,” said Dave Marshall, a market analyst for Toay Commodity Futures Group LLC in Nashville, Illinois. “Whoever does own the supplies is in no hurry to sell because they expect to see higher prices.”

Corn futures for May delivery rose 4.5 cents, or 0.6 percent, to $7.3725 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade. Soybean futures for May delivery jumped 22.75 cents, or 1.7 percent, to $13.805 a bushel on the CBOT, the highest settlement for the contract since April 8.

Seven Mississippi River locks in Iowa and Illinois are closed because of flooding, the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service said today in a report.

Barge shipments of grain and soybeans rose 12 percent to 563,000 metric tons in the week ended April 16 from a year earlier, the USDA said. On April 10, the cost of moving grain by barge from St. Louis to New Orleans was quoted at 300 percent of 1976 published tariff rates, down from 314 percent a week earlier and the lowest since August, the USDA said.

“The drop in the barge freight was bid back into grain prices this week,” Marshall said. “Barge operators prepared for the Mississippi River closing by keeping tows and boats below the flooded region.”

(Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-21/corn-premiums-rise-as-farmers-slow-sales-soybean-basis-steady.html)