US Cash Grains-Corn basis steady to lower at processors, ethanol plants; soy crusher bids level

CHICAGO, Aug 21 (Reuters) - Spot cash corn basis bids were mostly steady to firmer at U.S. Midwest grain elevators on Thursday and mostly flat to lower at ethanol plants and other processors as futures prices climbed for a second straight session and buyers looked ahead to a record U.S. harvest this autumn, merchants said.

• A corn processor in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, lowered its spot soy basis bid by 2 cents a bushel while an ethanol plant in Union City, Indiana, trimmed its spot basis bid by 2 cents a day after cutting its bid by a nickel.

• Spot soybean basis bids held steady at processing plants after several locations eased bids earlier this week on slow demand. The crush pace is down this month as many processors are taking seasonal downtime for maintenance and repairs ahead of the harvest.

• The spot soybean basis was mostly steady to up slightly at interior elevators and flat to down 5 cents at river terminals that load barges bound for export terminals at the Gulf Coast.

• New-crop corn and soybean export sales topped expectations in the week ended August 14, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture data released on Thursday morning. EXP/CORN EXP/SOY

• Grain merchants are following reports from this week's Pro Farmer Midwest crop tour after the U.S. Department of Agriculture forecast record corn and soybean yields in a monthly report last week.

• Scouts on the crop tour found above-average yield prospects in Illinois and western Iowa on Wednesday. But the tour's estimated average yield for Illinois, the No. 2 producing state, was down from last year. Soybean production potential was estimated to be above average.

• Traders are awaiting further reports from day 4 of the tour, with scouts surveying fields in eastern Iowa and Minnesota. Pro Farmer will release its final crop outlook on Friday, drawing from tour observations.

• Chicago Board of Trade December corn futures CZ25 were up 9 cents near midday on Thursday at $4.13 per bushel, while November soybeans SX25 rose 17 cents to $10.53 a bushel.

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: 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