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

CHICAGO, April 28 (Reuters) - Basis bids for corn delivered by barge to U.S. Gulf Coast terminals firmed slightly on Monday on brisk exporter demand and thin farmer selling while soybean barge bids were unchanged, traders said.

• CIF Gulf corn barges loaded in April were bid at 74 cents over Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) corn CK25 futures, up 1 cent from Friday.

• FOB export premiums for corn shipped from the Gulf in May were about 84 cents over CBOT May futures, up a penny from Friday.

• For soybeans, CIF Gulf barges loaded in April were bid at 77 cents over CBOT May SK25 soybean futures and May soybean barges were bid at 79 cents over futures, both unchanged from Friday.

• Export premiums for soybeans loaded from the Gulf in May were around 89 cents over CBOT May futures, down a penny from Friday.

• The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported export inspections of U.S. corn in the latest week at 1,654,613 metric tons, near the high end of trade expectations for 1,000,000 to 1,700,000 tons. USDA/I

• Soybean inspections totaled 439,341 tons, in line with expectations for 300,000 to 700,000 tons, while wheat inspections totaled 646,564 tons, above a range of expectations for 200,000 to 500,000 tons. USDA/I

• In its weekly crop progress report, the USDA said U.S. corn planting was 24% complete as of Sunday, ahead of the five-year average of 22% for this time of year. The U.S. soybean crop was 18% planted, ahead of the five-year average of 12%.

• U.S. winter wheat ratings improved more than expected following beneficial showers in the Plains. The USDA rated 49% of the U.S. winter wheat crop in good or excellent condition, up from 45% the previous week. Analysts surveyed by Reuters on average had expected a rating of 47%.

• The Brazilian unit of U.S. grain trader Cargill expects to handle higher volumes of grains and other products in the South American country this year compared to 2024, Paulo Sousa, president of Cargill, said in an interview.

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