CIF/FOB Gulf Grain-Soybean, corn barge bids inch higher

CHICAGO, Aug 25 (Reuters) - Basis bids for soybeans and corn shipped by barge to U.S. Gulf Coast terminals firmed on Monday, reflecting exporter demand for both grains, traders said.

• Rumors swirled last week that top global soy buyer China was inquiring about U.S. soybeans, after months of relying on Brazilian suppliers. But traders said recent demand was for buyers other than China.

• On Sunday, Beijing's ambassador to Washington said "rampant" U.S. protectionism was undermining agricultural cooperation with China and warned that farmers should not bear the price of the trade war between the world's two largest economies.

• Meanwhile, weekly export inspections data was strong for both corn and wheat. The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported export inspections of U.S. corn in the latest week at 1,305,325 metric tons, toward the high end of trade expectations for 900,000 to 1,400,000 tons.

• Weekly wheat export inspections totaled 946,472 tons, topping a range of trade expectations for 350,000 to 550,000 tons, while soybean inspections at 382,806 tons were in line with expectations. USDA/I

• The USDA raised its good-to-excellent rating for the U.S. soybean crop and kept its corn crop rating steady in a weekly progress report, surprising analysts who expected slight declines. The historically strong ratings helped to support projections for a record-breaking corn crop and bumper soy harvest this autumn.

• CIF Gulf soybean barges loaded in August were bid at 51 cents over Chicago Board of Trade November SX25 futures, up 2 cents from Friday.

• September CIF soybean barges traded at 55 cents over futures and were re-bid at 52 cents over futures.

• FOB export premiums for soybeans shipped from the Gulf in the first half of September held steady at about 90 cents over November SX25 futures.

• For corn, CIF Gulf corn barges loaded in August were bid at about 85 cents over CBOT September CU25 futures, up a penny from Friday.

• FOB export premiums for corn shipped from the Gulf in September were around 132 cents over September futures, unchanged from Friday.

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