US Cash Grains-Spot soybean basis mostly steady-firm at crush plants, elevator bids flat

CHICAGO, May 23 (Reuters) - Spot soybean basis bids were mostly steady to higher at U.S. Midwest to processing plants on Friday and unchanged at interior elevators and river terminals as futures retreated ahead of the long Memorial Day holiday weekend, grain merchants said.

• A large soy processor in Decatur, Illinois, raised its spot basis bid by 2 cents a bushel on Friday. The basis there was up 10 cents from last week.

• Spot corn basis bids were steady to firm at ethanol plants on good demand, but flat to weaker at other processors. Bids at elevators around the Midwest were unchanged.

• An ethanol plant in Union City, Indiana, increased its spot corn basis bid by 4 cents a bushel on Friday for a 10-cent basis gain over the past week. But the corn spot bid at a processing plant in Blair, Nebraska, dropped by 4 cents on Friday and was down 3 cents from a week ago.

• Farmer sales were slow on Friday as Chicago Board of Trade futures values fell and as grain buyer cash bids remained below many growers' targets.

• Planting of corn and soybeans is set to ramp up again in the central and northern Midwest after rains stalled seeding work earlier this week. Farms in the Ohio River valley and the Delta are poised to receive more rain this weekend, which is likely to further delay planting progress there, according to forecasters.

• CBOT July corn futures CN25 were down 4-1/2 cents at midmorning on Friday at $4.58-1/2 per bushel and July soybean futures SN25 were down 9-1/2 cents at $10.58 per bushel. The market will be closed on Monday for the U.S. Memorial Day holiday.

Basis values are quoted against CBOT futures in cts/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: 0#USCSHGRN-PM

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

CORN/BASIS, SOYA/BASIS, WHEAT/BASIS, MILO/BASIS

- 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 PM GRA/PM

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