Basis levels for corn were off 1 cent for the week adding to the previous week’s losses, while soybean basis managed a 2-cent advance thanks to a sharply lower week on the futures market.
For corn, there was modest weakness along the river markets this week with a 3-cent loss at the Gulf providing the biggest catalyst of change to upstream facilities. Corn buyers along the East Coast and Plains saw relatively more strength this week, but ethanol plants as a group were off 2-cents a bushel. Areas of Iowa and Minnesota were especially prone to losses this week with 5-cent a bushel losses being fairly typical at some key end users.
In soybeans, basis levels improved on average by 2-cents a bushel this week, although there was a distinct dichotomy between end-user groups. For export sensitive areas, losses of 5-cents a bushel at the Gulf kept river terminals mostly weaker. Although soybean export business has been winding down this week’s sales of 165,500 metric tons was a 21 percent improvement week over week. For soybean plants, crushing facilities raised their basis by 2 cents a bushel for the week, but Eastern Cornbelt plants saw more impressive gains with some facilities up 5 to 10 cents a bushel.
