CIF/FOB Gulf Grain-Soy barge bids creep higher, farmer selling stays slow

CHICAGO, Dec 4 (Reuters) - Basis bids continued to rise on Thursday for soybeans shipped by barge to U.S. Gulf Coast terminals, while CIF Gulf corn bids stayed largely steady, traders said.

• Farmer sales of both crops were slow, traders said.

• The U.S. Department of Agriculture did not confirm a "flash" sale of U.S. soybeans to China, as some traders had anticipated after talk about potential sales on Wednesday.

• However, exporters sold 392,500 metric tons of U.S. corn to Mexico and 100,800 metric tons of U.S. corn to Colombia, all for delivery in the 2025/26 marketing year, the USDA said in a daily reporting system.

• The USDA said separately that net U.S. soybean export sales in the week ended October 30 totaled 1,248,500 metric tons for shipment in the 2025/26 marketing year, in line with analyst estimates for 600,000 to 2 million tons. The sales included 232,000 tons sold to China, the country's first purchases of the 2025 crop.

• U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Wednesday said China was poised to complete its commitments under a U.S.-China trade agreement, including the purchase of 12 million metric tons of soybeans, which the Treasury chief said would be finished by the end of February 2026.

• The U.S. continued to face serious competition for soy export sales to China from Brazil, traders said. Buyers from destinations other than China were turning to Brazil, they said.

• Brazil's ANEC projected the country's soybean exports in December at 2.81 million metric tons, up from 1.47 million tons in December 2024.

• CIF soybean barges loaded in January traded at 90 cents over Chicago Board of Trade January soybean SF25 futures.

• CIF soybean barges loaded in December were bid at 82 cents over futures, up 2 cents.

• FOB export premiums for soybeans loaded in December and January were around 103 cents over CBOT January futures.

• CIF December corn barge bids were flat at about 88 cents over CBOT December corn CZ24 futures.

• FOB export premiums for December corn shipments were around 105 cents over futures.

• Chicago corn futures rose modestly on chart-based buying, firm cash markets and reminders of brisk export demand for U.S. supplies, analysts said.

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