CIF/FOB Gulf Grain-Soybean barge basis mostly steady on good demand, corn bids flat

CHICAGO, Dec 18 (Reuters) - Basis bids for soybeans shipped by barge to U.S. Gulf Coast terminals held mostly steady with a firm tone on Thursday after climbing earlier in the week on solid export demand and rising barge freight costs, traders said.

• CIF corn basis bids were mostly unchanged.

• Soybean values remain underpinned by steady buying by Chinese state importers. Private importers continued to book purchases from Brazil, where new-crop supplies were offered at lower prices than U.S. shipments.

• The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported U.S. soybean export sales in the week ended November 27 at 1.1 million metric tons, including 509,000 tons to China. The sales were in line with trade estimates.

• The USDA on Thursday also confirmed private sales of 114,000 tons of soybeans to undisclosed buyers.

• U.S. corn export sales in the week ended November 27 were in line with expectations at 1.8 million tons.

• Barge freight costs have edged higher this week on concerns that low water on the Mississippi River and ice buildup on the Illinois River would disrupt shipping, traders said. Barge lines are already limiting drafts and tow sizes in some areas due to low water. BG/US

• CIF bids for soybean barges loaded in December were steady at 85 cents over Chicago Board of Trade January soybean SF26 futures, while CIF bids for January loadings were unchanged at 95 cents over futures.

• FOB export premiums for soybeans loaded in January were 110 cents over January futures, while February export premiums were 105 cents over futures. Both were steady.

• CIF December corn barges were bid steady at 73 cents over CBOT March corn CH26 futures, while January bids were steady at 81 cents over futures.

• FOB export premiums for January corn shipments were up a penny at about 97 cents over March 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