CIF/FOB Gulf Grain-Corn, soy barge bids strengthen

CHICAGO, April 23 (Reuters) - Basis bids for corn and soybeans delivered by barge to U.S. Gulf Coast terminals were steady to stronger on Wednesday, rallying after a softer start to the week, traders said.

Farmer sales of both crops were thin, restricting the flow of grains into marketing channels that feed the Gulf. Growers remain busy with planting.

Bids firmed despite a slight decline in freight costs. Empty barges on the Mississippi River at St. Louis for this week were offered at 360% of tariff, down from 375% a day earlier.

At the Gulf, CIF corn barges loaded in April traded at 73 cents over Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) corn futures CK25 and were re-bid at 71 cents over futures, up 3 cents from Tuesday's bid.

FOB export premiums for corn shipped from the Gulf in May were about 82 cents over CBOT May futures, down 2 cents from Tuesday.

For soybeans, CIF Gulf barges loaded in April were bid at 78 cents over CBOT May SK25 soybean futures, up a penny from Tuesday. May soybean barges traded at 82 cents and 81 cents over futures and were re-bid at 78 cents over, up 1 cent from Tuesday's last bid.

Export premiums for soybeans loaded from the Gulf in May were unchanged at 89 cents over May futures.

Ahead of Thursday's weekly export sales report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), traders expect the government to report weekly sales of old-crop U.S. corn in the week to April 17 at 800,000-1,300,000 metric tons. Traders estimated weekly sales of old-crop soybeans at 200,000-600,000 tons.

CBOT soybean futures rose on Wednesday along with Wall Street equity markets as U.S. President Donald Trump's administration signaled a willingness to de-escalate its trade war with China. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that high tariffs between the U.S. and China are not sustainable. GRA/

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