CIF/FOB Gulf Grain-Corn barge bids strengthen on exporter demand

CHICAGO, May 19 (Reuters) - Basis bids for corn delivered by barge to U.S. Gulf Coast terminals firmed on Monday in response to exporter demand for the grain and thin farmer offerings, traders said.

• CIF Gulf corn barges loaded in May were bid at 68 cents over Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) July corn CN25 futures, up 4 cents from Friday. June corn barges were also bid at 68 cents over futures, up 2 cents from Friday.

• FOB export premiums for corn shipped from the Gulf in June were offered at about 78 cents over CBOT July corn futures, up 2 cents from Friday.

• For soybeans, CIF Gulf barges loaded in May were bid at 63 cents over CBOT July SN25 soybean futures, up 1 cent from Friday, while June soy barge bids were unchanged at 66 cents over futures.

• FOB export premiums for soybeans loaded from the Gulf in June were offered steady at about 77 cents over July soybean futures.

• Weekly U.S. grain inspections data reflected brisk corn exports. The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported export inspections of U.S. corn in the latest week at 1,719,034 metric tons, at the high end of trade expectations for 1,000,000 to 1,750,000 tons. Just over half the total was shipped out of the Gulf.

• Weekly soybean export inspections totaled 217,842 tons, below trade expectations for 300,000 to 550,000 tons, while wheat inspections totaled 423,785 tons, in line with expectations for 300,000 to 500,000 tons. USDA/I

• Under its daily reporting rules, the USDA confirmed private sales of 145,000 metric tons of old-crop U.S. soymeal to the Philippines.

• The U.S. corn crop was 78% planted and soybean planting was 66% complete, the USDA said late on Monday, ahead of the respective five-year averages of 73% for corn and 53%.

• In the global marketplace, Saudi Arabia bought 621,000 metric tons of wheat in a tender for arrival in August to October, the kingdom's main state wheat buying agency the General Food Security Authority (GFSA) said. Traders said they expected the wheat to be mainly sourced from the Black Sea region.

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