CIF/FOB Gulf Grain-Soybean barge bids level as China books more sales, futures rise

CHICAGO, Nov 26 (Reuters) - Basis bids for soybeans shipped by barge to the U.S. Gulf Coast held near steady on Wednesday as China booked more U.S. purchases and as futures climbed, traders said.

• Chinese buyers bought at least 10 cargoes of U.S. soybeans in contracts signed since Tuesday, traders said, after the presidents of both countries spoke on the phone. Most of the sales were for shipment from Gulf Coast terminals in January, they said.

• The U.S. Department of Agriculture did not confirm the sales in their daily reporting system on Wednesday. Traders expected confirmation from the USDA on Friday, after Thursday's U.S. Thanksgiving holiday when the government and markets will be closed.

• Chinese importers inquired about prices again on Wednesday, but traders could not confirm any additional sales.

• Demand from importers other than China remained muted as Brazilian soybeans were available at lower prices. January shipments from Brazil were around 50 cents a bushel cheaper on a free-on-board basis, a trader said.

• Basis values for CIF Gulf November soybean barges were unquoted. Bids for December barge shipments were flat around 70 cents over Chicago Board of Trade January SF26 futures, while last-half December barges were bid steady at 76 cents over futures. January barge bids were unchanged at 83 cents over futures.

• FOB export premiums for soybeans loaded in December and January were unchanged at around 103 cents over CBOT January futures. Traders noted that some of this week's Chinese purchases appeared to be slightly below those values.

• CIF Gulf corn basis bids were mostly steady to firm, underpinned by good export demand and an active export loading pace.

• Corn barges loaded at the Gulf in November were bid steady at 78 cents a bushel over CBOT December CZ25 futures. December barge bids were up a penny at 82 cents over futures.

• FOB export premiums for December corn shipments held steady at around 105 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