CIF/FOB Gulf Grain-Corn barge bids firm; soy bids steady

CHICAGO, March 18 (Reuters) - Spot basis bids for corn delivered by barge to the U.S. Gulf Coast firmed on Tuesday, supported by a slow pace of farmer offerings of the grain into Midwest river elevators, traders said.

CIF Gulf corn barges loaded in March were bid at 67 cents over Chicago Board of Trade May CK25 corn futures, up 2 cents from Monday's last bid.

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

For soybeans, CIF Gulf barges loaded in March were bid at 77 cents over CBOT May SK25 soybean futures, unchanged from Monday.

FOB offers for soybeans shipped from the Gulf in April held steady at around 92 cents over May futures.

Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed on Tuesday to stop attacking Ukrainian energy facilities temporarily but declined to endorse a full 30-day ceasefire that President Donald Trump hoped would be the first step toward a permanent peace deal.

Grain analysts see an end to the conflict in Ukraine as a potentially bearish factor for grain prices, if it eases constraints on exports from Ukraine and Russia. GRA/

S&P Global Commodity Insights projected that U.S. farmers would plant 94.3 million acres of corn in 2025, up 800,000 acres from its previous forecast released on January 21 and up 3.7 million acres from 2024. The firm left its forecast of U.S. 2025 soybean plantings unchanged from January at 83.3 million acres, down 3.8 million acres from a year ago.

The USDA is scheduled to release its annual U.S. planting intentions report on March 31.

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