CIF/FOB Gulf Grain-Soybean barge bids rise as China demand stirs

CHICAGO, Oct 28 (Reuters) - Basis bids for soybeans shipped by barge to U.S. Gulf Coast terminals rose on Tuesday as Chinese importers inquired about prices ahead of a meeting on Thursday between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, traders said.

• Exporter demand for soybean barges has accelerated this week ahead of a possible resumption of Chinese purchases. Slow farmer sales and below-normal exports in the season so far have kept the supply pipeline thin.

• Chinese importers inquired about prices on Tuesday for shipments from the Gulf Coast and the Pacific Northwest, but traders could not confirm that any sales had been finalized.

• Trump and Xi are expected to meet on Thursday to finalize a deal framework agreed by negotiators from both countries.

• Sharply lower Brazilian soy export premiums over the past week may limit demand for U.S. shipments, traders said. Top exporter Brazil still has soy available from its last harvest.

• Chicago Board of Trade soybean futures rallied to a 15-month high on Tuesday on trade deal optimism.

• CIF Gulf October soybean barges traded as high as 96 cents over CBOT November SX25 futures on Tuesday morning and were bid 93 cents over futures in the afternoon, up from bids of 87 cents over futures a day earlier. November barge bids jumped 6 cents to 94 cents over futures.

• FOB export premiums for November-loaded soybeans gained 5 cents to 105 cents over futures and December offers were up 7 cents at 97 cents over CBOT January SF26 futures.

• CIF corn basis bids rose along with soybeans, with October barge bids up 4 cents at 82 cents over CBOT December CZ25 futures. November corn barge bids rose 3 cents to 80 cents over futures.

• FOB export premiums for November corn shipments gained a penny to 94 cents over futures.

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