CIF/FOB Gulf Grain-Soy barge basis flat to higher, traders eye Brazil

CHICAGO, Dec 24 (Reuters) - Basis bids for soybeans shipped by barge to U.S. Gulf Coast terminals were steady to slightly firmer on Wednesday, traders said, as they eyed crop prices and weather in top exporter Brazil.

• Lower prices in Brazil are attractive to buyers from China, the world's biggest soy importer, and elsewhere, a broker said.

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

• U.S. officials have said China will buy 12 million metric tons of U.S. soybeans by around February as part of a trade truce reached in late October, after initially saying China would buy the beans by the end of the year.

• China may shift its demand to Brazil after meeting the target, an analyst said.

• Brazilian farmers were expected to produce a record-large crop. They have begun harvesting it in parts of the states of Parana and Mato Grosso, according to consultancy AgRural.

• Commodity Weather Group projected rains will cover most of Brazil over next two weeks.

• 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 up 3 cents at 97 cents over futures.

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

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

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

• On December 31, the USDA is slated to report U.S. grain and soybean export sales for the week ended on December 18.

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