CIF/FOB Gulf Grain-Soybean basis bids dip amid uncertainty over Chinese demand

CHICAGO, Nov 20 (Reuters) - Basis bids for soybeans shipped by barge to the U.S. Gulf Coast were mostly steady to weaker on Thursday, as U.S. soybean futures slid on questions about Chinese buyer demand, traders said.

• Chicago Board of Trade soybean futures Sv1 on Thursday extended a setback from a 17-month high reached earlier this week, as confirmation of more Chinese purchases of American supplies failed to spark a new rally.

• The U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed private sales of 462,000 metric tons of soybeans and 132,000 metric tons of white wheat to Chicago for shipment in the 2025/26 marketing year. The announcement marked the third soybean "flash" sales announcement this week.

• Separately, USDA reported export sales of U.S. corn for the week ended October 2 at 2,259,700 metric tons, toward the high end of a range of trade expectations for 1,400,000 to 2,500,000 tons. Release of the data was delayed due to the recent U.S. government shutdown.

• USDA also reported export sales of U.S. soybeans for the week ended October 2 at 919,400 metric tons, in line with a range of trade expectations for 600,000 to 1,600,000 tons.

• CIF Gulf soybean barges loaded in December traded at 83 cents a bushel over Chicago Board of Trade January SF26 futures.

• CIF Gulf soybean barges loaded in November were bid down 2 cents at 72 cents a bushel over Chicago Board of Trade January SF26 futures. December soy barge bids were a penny lower at 82 cents over futures.

• FOB export premiums for soybeans loaded in December and January eased down a penny, at around 107 cents over CBOT January SF26 futures.

• Corn barge basis bids for loadings in the nearby months were steady to lower.

• CIF Gulf corn barges loaded in December traded at 85 cents a bushel over CBOT December CZ25 futures.

• CIF Gulf corn barges loaded in November had no bid, but were offered at 77 cents a bushel over CBOT December CZ25 futures. December barge bids were unchanged at 84 cents a bushel over futures.

• FOB export premiums for December corn shipments held steady at around 100 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