CIF/FOB Gulf Grain-Soy barge bids firm, freight costs eyed; corn flat

CHICAGO, Aug 27 (Reuters) - Basis bids for soybeans shipped by barge to U.S. Gulf Coast terminals firmed slightly on Wednesday amid exporter demand and rising freight costs in some locations, traders said.

• Empty barges available for this week on the Illinois River were offered on Wednesday at 625% of tariff, up from 600% a day earlier, barge sources said. Freight costs held steady elsewhere on Midwest rivers. BG/US

• For corn, CIF Gulf barge bids held steady, capped by the movement of old-crop grain into marketing channels as farmers clear space ahead of the 2025 autumn harvest, which is projected to be the largest on record.

• The corn harvest is already under way in far southern states such as Texas and Arkansas, and while crops are still ripening in the heart of the Midwest, producers there have been busy delivering the last of their 2024 grain into elevators.

• In global news, Vietnam is planning to switch completely to ethanol-blended gasoline from next year, opening up the possibility for the Southeast Asian country to import more ethanol and corn from the United States.

• Ahead of Thursday's weekly export sales report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, traders expected the government to report sales of U.S. new-crop corn in the week ended August 21 at 1.2 million to 2.6 million metric tons.

• Traders expected weekly export sales of U.S. new-crop soybeans at 450,000 to 1 million tons, and weekly U.S. wheat sales at 400,000 to 700,000 tons. USDA/EST

• CIF Gulf soybean barges loaded in August were bid on Wednesday at 52 cents over Chicago Board of Trade November SX25 futures, up 2 cents from Tuesday.

• September-loaded soy barges traded at 54 cents over November futures SX25 and were re-bid at 50 cents over futures.

• FOB export premiums for soybeans shipped from the Gulf in October held steady at about 84 cents over November futures.

• For corn, CIF Gulf corn barges loaded in August were bid at around 82 cents over CBOT September CU25 corn futures, steady with Tuesday's last bid.

• FOB export premiums for corn shipped from the Gulf in October were around 109 cents over December futures, down a penny from Tuesday.

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