CIF/FOB Gulf Grain-Corn barge basis firms as freight costs stay high

CHICAGO, Sept 23 (Reuters) - Basis bids for corn shipped by barge to U.S. Gulf Coast export terminals turned higher on Tuesday, amid brisk export demand and elevated freight rates, traders said.

• Soybean basis bids eased.

• Chinese buyers booked at least 10 cargoes of Argentine soybeans after Buenos Aires scrapped grain export taxes, three traders said on Tuesday, dealing another setback to U.S. farmers already shut out of their top market and hit by low prices.

• CIF Gulf soybean barges loaded in October traded at 59 cents over Chicago Board of Trade November SX25 futures.

• CIF Gulf soybean barges loaded in September dipped 1 cent, bid at 59 cents over Chicago Board of Trade November SX25 futures.

• FOB export premiums for soybeans shipped from the Gulf in October were flat at about 70 cents over November futures.

• CIF October corn barges traded at 83 cents over CBOT December CZ25 futures, and barges loaded in December traded at 85 cents over futures.

• CIF September corn barges were bid up 2 cents higher, at 79 cents over CBOT December CZ25 futures.

• FOB export premiums for October corn shipments were steady at 99 cents over December futures.

• Barge traffic began to move again on parts of the Mississippi River, which had seen river closures and groundings over the weekend, one barge source said.

• But low river levels continue to keep barge freight rates high, and recent rainfall in the Ohio River Valley is not expected to improve water levels in the near term. BG/US

• Exporters sold 122,947 metric tons of corn for delivery to Mexico, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said Tuesday. Of that, 100,593 metric tons is for delivery during the 2025/2026 marketing year, and 22,354 metric tons is for delivery during the 2026/2027 marketing year.

• Senior Chinese trade negotiator Li Chenggang met political and business leaders from the U.S. Midwest, the commerce ministry said on Tuesday, with analysts speculating the region's food exports will be key to any U.S.-China trade deal.

• After the market closed Monday, USDA rated 66% of the U.S. corn crop was in good-to-excellent condition, down 1 percentage point from last week and in line with the average estimate among 11 analysts surveyed in a Reuters poll.

• The agency also reported that U.S. soybean conditions were rated 61% good-to-excellent, down 2 percentage points from last week - lower than trade expectations.

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