CIF/FOB Gulf Grain-Soybean barge basis mostly steady

CHICAGO, Dec 23 (Reuters) - Basis bids for soybeans shipped by barge to U.S. Gulf Coast terminals were mostly steady on Tuesday following recent sales to China, traders said.

• The U.S. Department of Agriculture did not announce export sales in its daily reporting system after confirming on Monday that exporters sold 396,000 metric tons of U.S. soybeans to China.

• China will likely increase purchases of Brazilian soybeans due to cheaper prices after it meets a target to buy 12 million tons of U.S. soybeans, an analyst said.

• U.S. officials said in late October that China would buy 12 million tons by the end of the year as part of a trade truce between the nations. Officials have since said the purchases may happen by around February.

• Total U.S. soybean export sales for 2025-26 reached 2.4 million metric tons in the week that ended on December 11, the USDA said. Analysts expected 1.8 million to 2.9 million metric tons.

• Of the total, about 1.4 million metric tons were sold to China, and 594,075 were sold to unknown buyers.

• For 2026-27, weekly U.S. soybean export sales were 28,500 metric tons, the USDA said.

• CIF bids for soybean barges loaded in December were steady at 93 cents over Chicago Board of Trade January soybean SF26 futures. CIF bids for January loadings were also flat at 94 cents over futures.

• FOB offers for vessels loaded in January were around 110 cents over CBOT January futures, and offers for February shipments were around 105 cents over March SH26 futures.

• CIF December corn barges were steady at 80 cents over CBOT March corn CH26 futures, while January bids were flat at 83 cents over futures.

• FOB export premiums for January corn shipments were around 97 cents over March futures.

• U.S. corn export sales were 1.7 million metric tons in the week that ended on December 11, toward the high end of analysts' estimates for 900,000 to 1.8 million metric tons.

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