CIF/FOB Gulf Grain-Corn barge bids steady-up on firm demand, soybeans weak

CHICAGO, Feb 10 (Reuters) - Basis bids for corn shipped by barge to the U.S. Gulf Coast were steady to firm on Monday after top importer Mexico booked a large purchase of old-crop grain, while soybean basis bids were flat to weaker on seasonally slowing demand, traders said.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed export sales totaling 365,000 metric tons of U.S. old-crop corn to Mexico, which had also booked a sizable purchase of new-crop corn last week. The purchases came despite threats of U.S. tariffs on Mexican imports that were likely to trigger trade retaliation.

The USDA said 1.334 million tons of U.S. corn was inspected for export last week, near the high end of a range of trade estimates, with regular importers Mexico, Colombia, Japan and South Korea among the top destinations. USDA/I

Soybean export inspections of 1.042 million tons last week were also near the high end of estimates, although new demand was lacking as top buyer China has been focused on booking cheaper South American supplies.

Traders said China has been shopping for Argentine soybeans for shipment in May in recent days as export prices there were around 40 cents a bushel lower than U.S. supplies shipped from Pacific Northwest ports.

CIF Gulf soybean barges loaded in February traded at 70 cents over Chicago Board of Trade March SH25 futures and were later rebid at 66 cents over futures, down from bids of 68 cents over futures earlier in the day. March soy barges were bid 74 cents over futures, down from trades at 77 cents over futures on Friday.

FOB export premiums for February soybean loadings held at 85 cents over March futures.

CIF February corn barges were bid a penny higher at 74 cents over CBOT March CH25 futures, while February corn export premiums were 83 cents over futures, unchanged.

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