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

CHICAGO, March 10 (Reuters) - Spot basis bids for soybeans delivered by barge to the U.S. Gulf Coast eased a bit on Monday in subdued trade, while corn barge bids were steady to firmer, traders said.

CIF soybean barges loaded in March were bid at 74 cents over Chicago Board of Trade May SK25 futures, a couple cents weaker than Friday's basis of 90 cents over March SH25 futures, given the 14-cent spread between the March and May futures contracts.

FOB export premiums for April soybean loadings were offered at 86 cents over May futures, unchanged from Friday.

For corn, CIF barges loaded in March were bid at 66 cents over CBOT May futures CK25, steady with Friday. April corn barges were also bid at 66 cents over May futures, up 2 cents from Friday.

FOB premiums for corn loaded from the Gulf in March and April were offered steady at around 75 cents over May futures.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported strong weekly export inspections of U.S. corn in the latest week of 1.8 million metric tons, topping a range of trade expectations for 1.0 million to 1.4 million. USDA/I

Weekly soybean inspections of 844,218 tons were at the high end of trade expectations for 400,000 to 900,000 tons, but wheat inspections totaled just 216,173 tons, below a range of expectations for 250,000 to 450,000 tons.

Under its daily reporting rules, the USDA confirmed private sales of 195,000 tons of U.S. soybeans to undisclosed destinations and 126,000 tons of U.S. corn to Japan.

Ahead of the USDA's monthly supply and demand report on Tuesday, analysts surveyed by Reuters on average expect the government to lower its forecast of U.S. 2024-25 corn ending stocks. Minimal changes were expected for U.S. soybean and wheat stocks.

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