CIF/FOB Gulf Grain-Soybean basis steady to firm on good demand

CHICAGO, Jan 8 (Reuters) - Basis bids for soybeans shipped by barge to U.S. Gulf Coast terminals were steady to higher on Thursday on good exporter demand after solid export sales to China this week, while corn basis bids were mostly steady to firm, traders said.

• A pickup in soybean purchases by China this week supported basis values. The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Thursday confirmed private sales of 132,000 metric tons to China in a daily sales announcement.

• In a weekly report on Thursday, the USDA said net U.S. soybean export sales in the week ended January 1 fell to 877,914 tons, the lowest total in seven weeks. Those sales were lower due to reduced trading during the year-end holidays but were in line with trade expectations.

• CIF bids for Gulf soybean barges loaded in January were bid 2 cents higher at 90 cents over CBOT March soybean SH26 futures. February barges were bid 2 cents higher at 92 cents over futures.

• Tight loading capacity at Gulf Coast terminals supported FOB export premiums. Many exporters are not quoting January loadings due to a lack of capacity, traders said.

• FOB offers for vessels loaded from the Gulf in February were 3 cents higher at about 113 cents over March futures, and offers for March shipments were up 3 cents at around 105 cents over futures.

• CIF corn basis values edged higher in some delivery slots on Thursday, although gains were limited by good farmer sales, traders said.

• The USDA said net U.S. corn export sales for 2025/26 shipments fell to a marketing-year low of 377,598 tons, below trade estimates.

• CIF Gulf January corn barges were bid a penny higher at 84 cents over CBOT March corn CH26 futures, while February bids gained 1 cent to 89 cents over futures.

• FOB export premiums for February corn shipments were down 2 cent at 105 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