CIF/FOB Gulf Grain-Corn basis bids steady to lower; soy weaker amid lack of China demand

Corn bids were steady to lower on Thursday, while basis bids for soybeans delivered by barge to U.S. Gulf Coast terminals weakened amid a lack of Chinese export demand, traders said.

• CIF Gulf corn barges loaded in August were offered at around 84 cents over Chicago Board of Trade September CU25 futures, steady from Wednesday's offers. September corn barges were bid at 94 cents over futures, down 2 cents.

• FOB export premiums for corn shipped from the Gulf in September were steady at around 128 cents over September futures.

• For soybeans, CIF Gulf barges loaded in August were bid at 48 cents over CBOT November SX25 futures, down 7 cents from Wednesday. September loadings were bid at 51 cents over November futures, down 6 cents.

• Meanwhile, soybean CIF Gulf barges loaded in December traded at 68 cents over January 2025 SF26 futures.

• FOB export premiums for soybeans shipped from the Gulf in the first-half of September were steady at around 102 cents over November SX25 futures.

• Barge company sources said that falling water-level stages along some stretches of the Lower Mississippi River may have them seeing draft restrictions next week.BG/US

• Trader sources said August barge capacity is extremely limited, Gulf capacity in September is also tight - and yet some grain storage and loading facilities at the U.S. Gulf are at relatively high capacity, a surprise given the lack of new-crop soybean export demand.

• That, in turn, has been weighing on CIF values and cooled some market participants from feeling they need to scramble right now to book barges, traders said.

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