Columbia Basin, Ephrata, WA | I think the marketing guys that routinely handle local corn are not doing their jobs. In the past they could easily move the regular volume by doing nothing more than answering the phone every once in a while. Now volume is up, farmers are selling more to end users, and instead of going out and making some sales, they sit around and wait for the phone to ring. This summer could get interesting one way or another. Word on the street is that some of the grinders down south had arranged unit trains of corn to come in through late June or early July. Once those pre-arranged loads are used, it might open the floodgates for local corn to move. I sure hope so anyway. Last year late summer was the time to have corn. Availability was not a problem at first, and then overnight the Basin was out of corn. Price had a normal basis, and everyone was out, so if you had it you could get $20+/ton more anyway.
The other scenario is that local corn does not move, there is lots of inventory as we go into the hedging inverse late this summer and traders need to move it so basis REALLY goes south. It could be the first time ever that corn leaves this area by rail...
Edited by Ben in the Basin 4/28/2011 23:31
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Bought some 8 dollar corn today
