CIF/FOB Gulf Grain-Soybean barge basis steady-up on good demand, firm freight

CHICAGO, Jan 5 (Reuters) - Basis bids for soybeans shipped by barge to U.S. Gulf Coast terminals were steady to higher on Monday on good demand and firm freight costs, traders said.

• Chinese importers inquired about prices for near-term shipments from the Gulf, and some purchases were likely booked on Monday, according to traders. But traders could not immediately confirm any sales volumes.

• The U.S. Department of Agriculture said net U.S. soybean export sales in the week ended December 25 totaled 1,244,136 metric tons, up 27% from the previous week. The tally included 396,400 tons of old-crop soy and 66,000 tons of new-crop soy to China.

• Soybean export loadings accelerated last week, with 980,518 tons inspected for export, up from 773,600 tons a week earlier, according to the USDA.

• Barge freight rates remained well supported by good demand and low water on the lower Mississippi River. Barge lines are already limiting drafts in some low-water areas for safety, effectively raising the per-bushel cost of moving grain. BG/US

• CIF bids for Gulf soybean barges loaded in January were bid steady at 100 cents over CBOT January soybean SF26 futures. February barges were bid a penny higher at 88 cents over March CH26 futures.

• FOB offers for vessels loaded from the Gulf in January were steady at about 108 cents over CBOT January futures, and offers for February shipments were steady at around 110 cents over March SH26 futures.

• CIF Gulf January corn barges were bid a penny lower at 81 cents over CBOT March corn CH26 futures, while February bids firmed 1 cent to 83 cents over futures.

• FOB export premiums for January corn shipments were steady at around 106 cents over March futures, dealers 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