We can't buy corn for anything these days," Mark said to his scale operator, Larry. "If it's tough in June, what will it be like by August? Is there any corn left out there?" Merchandisers and managers across large parts of the country are strugglingto buy old-crop corn and soybeans, despite record-high basis values. Accumulating a train-load quantity seems a distant memory for many managers, and a few soybean crush plants are already shutting down until harvest due to tight soybean supplies and poor crush margins. But ethanol (futures) crush margins are at 17-month highs, and high enough to offset a corn basis of +70 or even higher. Buyers are ratcheting up corn basis to attract corn — but it's still tough going. What lies ahead?
展开▼
