CIF/FOB Gulf Grain-Soy, corn barge bids steady-firm in light trade

CHICAGO, Jan 2 (Reuters) - Spot basis bids for corn and soybeans shipped by barge to U.S. Gulf Coast export terminals were mostly steady to firm on Thursday in muted trading to start the new year, traders said.

* Basis values at the Gulf were capped by firmer futures on the Chicago Board of Trade.

* Freight costs for empty river barges remained unchanged on Thursday on light demand, although traders noted expected slowdowns in navigation on the Illinois River as frigid Midwest weather was likely to increase ice on the waterway, which can slow vessel operations and clog river locks. BG/US

* The U.S. Department of Agriculture is due to release weekly export sales data early on Friday. Analysts expect net old-crop corn sales of up to 1.4 million metric tons in the week ended Dec. 26, down from 1.7 million tons the previous week, while soy sales were seen as high as 1.2 million tons.

* CIF soybean barges loaded in December were bid 77 cents over CBOT March soybean SH25 futures, compared with 86 cents over January futures SF25 on Tuesday.

* FOB export premiums for January soybean shipments were steady at about 107 cents over January futures.

* CIF December corn barges were bid a penny higher at 65 cents over CBOT March corn CH25 futures. January barges were bid at 67 cents over March corn futures, also up 1 cent.

* FOB offers for corn shipped from the Gulf in January held steady at 86 cents over March futures.

(Reporting by Karl Plume; Editing by Alan Barona)

((karl.plume@thomsonreuters.com; +1 313 484 5285))

For displays of CIF basis, click on the codes in brackets:
U.S. CIF Gulf soybeans GRYM
U.S. CIF Gulf corn GRYN
U.S. CIF Gulf SRW wheat GRYO
U.S. CIF Gulf HRW wheat GRYP
For displays of FOB basis, please click on the following codes in brackets:
U.S. FOB Gulf corn GRZC
U.S. FOB Gulf soybeans GRZD
U.S. FOB Gulf SRW wheat GRZE
U.S. FOB Gulf HRW wheat GRZF

LINKS Corn prices page:   cpurl://apps.cp./cms/?pageid=corn-cash-market
Wheat prices page:  cpurl://apps.cp./cms/?pageid=wheat-cash-market
U.S. barge freight                  BG/US
U.S. export sales estimates         USDA/EST
U.S. grain export summary           GRA/U
Brazil soybean export prices        SYBS
Brazil corn export prices           SYBX
Argentina grain prices              GRA/ARG
Russia grain prices                 GRA/RU