CIF/FOB Gulf Grain-Soy barge basis bids firm, corn bids steady

CHICAGO, Feb 21 (Reuters) - Spot basis bids for soybeans delivered by barge to the U.S. Gulf Coast firmed on Friday, and corn bids were steady, traders said.

Traders expect the recent surge in corn prices will encourage U.S. farmers to plant more of the grain this spring, as the crop looks more profitable than soybeans.

Agricultural lender CoBank projected on Thursday that corn plantings will jump about 4% from 2024 to 94.55 million acres.

In the week ended on February 13, U.S. corn export sales for 2024-25 reached 1.45 million metric tons, according to the USDA. That was toward the high end of analysts' estimates for 900,000 to 1.6 million metric tons.

But warmer temperatures this weekend and into next week should help ease barge navigation river issues next week, traders said.

CIF corn barges loaded in February traded at 85 cents over Chicago Board of Trade March CH25 futures, while March barges traded at 79 cents over futures. Corn barges loaded in April-May traded at 66 cents over CBOT May CK25 futures.

CIF corn barges loaded in February were bid at 84 cents over CBOT March CH25 futures, while March barges bid at 78 cents over futures - both steady from Thursday.

Export premiums for corn loaded in the first half of March were 95 cents over futures, while last-half offers were 90 cents over futures — both up 1 cent from Thursday.

CIF soybean barges loaded in February were bid 2 cents higher at 87 cents over CBOT March SH25 futures, while March loadings were bid up 2 cents at 82 cents over futures.

FOB export premiums for March soybean loadings were up 1 cent at 91 cents over futures.

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