CIF/FOB Gulf Grain-Soybean barge basis bids firm, corn bids steady-lower

CHICAGO, Sept 12 (Reuters) - Basis bids for soybeans shipped by barge to U.S. Gulf Coast terminals were steady to slightly higher on Friday, while corn was steady to lower, traders said.

• Low interior river levels, elevated empty barge freight rates, tighter-than-expected supplies in interior markets and slow farmer selling ahead of harvest have made the CIF market fairly choppy in recent days, traders said. BG/US

• CIF Gulf soybean barges loaded in the first half of September traded at 58 cents over Chicago Board of Trade November SX25 futures.

• Meanwhile, CIF Gulf soybean barges loaded in September were bid at around 54 cents over Chicago Board of Trade November SX25 futures, up 1 cent from Thursday.

• FOB export premiums for soybeans shipped from the Gulf in October were steady, offered at about 76 cents over November futures.

• CIF September corn barges were bid at 82 cents over CBOT December CZ25 corn futures, steady from Thursday.

• FOB export premiums for corn shipped from the Gulf in October were 1 cent lower, at around 97 cents over December futures.

• A U.S. soybean export sale to China that was included in weekly U.S. Department of Agriculture data on Thursday reflected an export transaction that occurred in January, the USDA confirmed to Reuters in an email on Friday.

• Exporters sold 22,000 metric tons of U.S. soybean oil to South Korea for 2025/2026 delivery, the USDA said Friday via its daily reporting system.

• Higher temperatures are expected across the central U.S. over the next 10 days, which should accelerate maturation of the corn crop, according to Vaisala X-Weather on Friday.

• U.S. farmers will harvest the most acres of corn since 1933 and produce more of the grain than previously expected, even though crop yields will miss earlier forecasts, USDA said Friday.

• Brazilian farmers are not expected to boost soy and corn production in the new season by as much as in previous ones, analysts told Reuters.