World markets for grains and oilseeds

Spot rates for corn and soybeans in the Midwest were mostly stable or higher on Tuesday as harvests for both crops neared completion and farm grain supplies slowed, brokers said. Soybean basis at crushers rose 3 to 10 cents a bushel, even as a 4% drop in Chicago Mercantile Exchange soybean oil futures on Tuesday squeezed crusher margins. For corn, the basis strengthened 4 cents a bushel at a Cincinnati, Ohio, elevator. But basis was mixed at Midwest ethanol plants, rising 4 cents at a Union City, Indiana, plant and falling 2 cents at an Annawan, Illinois, facility. Ahead of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s weekly harvest report, delayed a day by a federal holiday on Monday, analysts polled by Reuters on average expected the government to report soybean harvests were 97% complete and corn was 95% complete. Analysts on average rated 44% of the winter wheat crop as good or excellent, down from 41% last week, after storms helped restore soil moisture in the drought-stricken Plains ...