CIF/FOB Gulf Grain-Corn barge bids soften despite strong export pace

CHICAGO, May 8 (Reuters) - Basis bids for corn delivered by barge to U.S. Gulf Coast terminals ticked lower on Thursday, despite a brisk U.S. export pace, while soybean barge bids firmed a bit in quiet trade, traders said.

• The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported export sales of U.S. old-crop corn in the week ended May 1 at 1,662,500 metric tons, topping a range of trade expectations for 700,000 to 1,400,000 tons. EXP/CORN

• Separately, under its daily reporting rules, the USDA confirmed private sales of 205,000 tons of U.S. corn to Mexico and another 115,000 tons to undisclosed destinations.

• Export sales of U.S. old-crop soybeans in the week to May 1 totaled 376,700 tons, the USDA said, in line with trade expectations for 200,000 to 500,000 tons. EXP/SOY

• The USDA also flashed a daily sale of 225,000 tons of new-crop U.S. soybeans to Pakistan.

• For wheat, the USDA reported net old-crop sales in the week to May 1 at 69,700 tons, in line with trade estimates, while new-crop sales totaled 493,000 tons, above trade expectations.

• At the Gulf on Thursday, CIF corn barges loaded in May were bid at 64 cents over Chicago Board of Trade July corn CN25 futures, down 2 cents from Wednesday. June corn barges were also bid at 64 cents over July futures, down 2 cents.

• FOB export premiums for corn shipped from the Gulf in June held steady at about 78 cents over CBOT July corn futures.

• CIF Gulf soybean barges loaded in May were bid at 64 cents over CBOT July SN25 soybean futures, up a penny from Wednesday. Soybean barges loaded in July traded at 68 cents over futures.

• FOB export premiums for soybeans loaded from the Gulf in June were about 79 cents over July soybean futures, unchanged from Wednesday.

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