US Cash Grains-Soy basis steady-firm, corn flat as rain slows harvest

CHICAGO, Sept 29 (Reuters) - Spot basis values for soybeans were steady to stronger in the US Midwest on Tuesday and corn bids were little changed as weather-related harvest delays limited the flow of new-crop supplies to elevators, processors and other handlers, merchandisers said.

• Soy processor bids were unchanged, spot checks showed, but some locations continued to offer big premiums for soybeans delivered this week, underscoring demand for immediate supplies after a slow harvest start.

• The soybean basis improved by 5 cents a bushel at Davenport, Iowa, where grain is loaded onto barges for shipment on the Mississippi River toward Gulf exporters.

• Storms were crossing Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa and Wisconsin on Tuesday afternoon, stalling field work. The USDA's weekly crop progress report showed the US soybean harvest was 17% complete by Sunday, but Iowa's progress was only 3%, lagging the state's five-year average of 17%. The USDA said the corn harvest was 18% complete nationally.

• On the Chicago Board of Trade, November soybeans settled up 9-1/2 cents, or 0.7%, at $12.97-3/4 a bushel on bargain-buying after Monday's 2.3% slide, while December corn ended down 1 cent at $5.22 a bushel. GRA/

• Ahead of the USDA's quarterly grain stocks report on Wednesday, analysts surveyed by Reuters on average expected the government to peg US September 1 corn stocks at 1.918 billion bushels, a six-year high but slightly below the 1.922 billion bushels that the USDA projected for 2025/26 corn ending stocks in its last monthly supply/demand report.

• For September 1 soybean stocks, the average analyst estimate of 324 million bushels would be nearly unchanged from a year ago and close to the 325 million bushels that the USDA most recently projected as 2025/26 soybean ending stocks.

Basis values are quoted against CBOT futures in cents/bu:

NOTE: 0 = Option Price, UNC = Unchanged, UNQ = Unquoted, NC = Not Comparable, DP = Delayed Price, N/A = Not Available, F = January, H = March, K = May, N = July, Q = August, U = September, X = November, Z = December

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LINKS:

For U.S. forward basis spreadsheets, please click on:

- CBOT corn report COR/

- CBOT soybean report SOY/C

- CBOT wheat report WHE/C

- U.S. grain barge freight values BG/US

- U.S. Midwest cash grain AM GRA/M

- U.S. CIF/FOB Gulf Grain GRA/F