CIF/FOB Gulf Grain-Soybean barge bids firm in low-volume trade

CHICAGO, March 17 (Reuters) - Spot basis bids for soybeans delivered by barge to the U.S. Gulf Coast edged higher on Monday in low-volume trading, supported by limited farmer sales of the oilseed and increasing barge freight costs, traders said.

Empty barges were offered for this week on the Mississippi River at St. Louis at 475% of tariff, up about 25 percentage points from Friday. Lock delays near St. Louis were a factor, a barge source said. BG/US

CIF Gulf soybean barges loaded in March were bid at 77 cents over Chicago Board of Trade May SK25 soybean futures, up 2 cents from Friday.

FOB offers for soybeans shipped from the Gulf in April were around 92 cents over May futures, up 2 cents from Friday.

For corn, CIF Gulf barges loaded in March traded at 67 cents over CBOT May corn futures CK25 and were re-bid at 65 cents over futures, down a penny from Friday. April corn barges traded at 66 cents over futures and May barges traded at 64 cents over futures.

FOB export premiums for corn shipped from the Gulf in April held steady at around 77 cents over CBOT May futures.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported export inspections of U.S. corn in the latest week at 1,658,631 metric tons, in line with trade expectations but down from last week's revised inspections figure of 1,844,188 tons, a near four-year high. Soybean inspections totaled 646,667 tons, in line with expectations for 300,000 to 950,000 tons. USDA/I

Weekly export inspections of U.S. wheat totaled 492,658 tons, topping a range of expectations for 175,000 to 450,000 tons. USDA/I

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