US FOB Gulf soyabean basis offers were steady to firm on Wednesday afternoon, with November-December-January values up 5 to 6 cents a bushel on steady Chinese demand, traders said. FOB Gulf corn and wheat values were steady as futures climbed after Russia announced a ban on agricultural imports. Even though Russia is a big wheat exporter the mere mention that the world grain trade could be affected by the political turmoil in the Black Sea region, triggered a short-covering rally in US grains futures markets on Wednesday, traders said.
New-crop soyabean values remain competitive with South American soya and limited capacity at the Gulf for early fall loadings, pushed November-December-January offers higher, traders said. September and October soyabean basis values were steady at 210 and 170 cents, respectively, over CBOT November, which ended up 14-1/4 cents at $10.80 a bushel. November loadings were quoted 5 cents higher at 165 cents over futures and December/January were both up 6 cents at 143/139 cents over January futures. Exporters reported steady interest in US corn with FOB Gulf values unchanged after futures closed higher. CBOT September corn ended 7 cents up at $3.63-1/4. FOB corn values for August and September were 145 cents over CBOT September futures with October-November-December also unchanged at 142 cents over December futures.
USDA on Wednesday reported Colombia bought 160,000 tonnes of corn for 2014/15 delivery. Traders expected USDA to report strong weekly exports for corn - up to 1.0 million tonnes for new-crop in Thursday's report. Wheat basis values were unchanged, with US HRW values at the Texas Gulf 160 cents over KCBT September futures and September at 165 cents over KCBT September. O/N/D slots were offered 185 cents over December futures. KCBT September wheat closed 13-1/2 cents higher at $6.56-1/4.
