CIF/FOB Gulf Grain-Soybean barge bids firm a bit; corn bids flat

CHICAGO, April 24 (Reuters) - Basis bids for soybeans delivered by barge to U.S. Gulf Coast terminals inched higher on Thursday, supported by a slow pace of farmer grain sales as producers focused on spring planting, traders said.

CIF Gulf soybean barges loaded in April traded at 81 cents over Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) May SK25 soybean futures and were re-bid at 79 cents over, up 1 cent from Wednesday's last bid. May soybean barges were also bid at 79 cents over futures, up a penny from Wednesday.

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

For corn, CIF Gulf barges loaded in April traded at 73 cents over CBOT corn CK25 futures, steady with Wednesday's trades, and were re-bid at 71 cents over futures, matching Wednesday's last bid.

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

The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported export sales of U.S. corn in the week ended April 17 at 1,152,900 metric tons, in line with trade expectations for 800,000 to 1,300,000 tons. EXP/CORN

For soybeans, the USDA reported weekly export sales at 277,000 metric tons, toward the low end of trade expectations for 200,000 to 600,000 tons. EXP/SOY

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