CIF/FOB Gulf Grain-Soybean, corn barge basis higher on signs of demand, firm freight

CHICAGO, Jan 13 (Reuters) - Basis bids for soybeans and corn shipped by barge to U.S. Gulf Coast terminals turned higher on Tuesday amid a flurry of CIF trades, as grain futures extended their losses and export buyers looked for opportunities, traders said.

• U.S. corn futures Cv1 slid to a three-month low on Tuesday, extending declines from the previous session triggered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's outlook for massive supplies following a record-large U.S. harvest.

• Chicago Board of Trade soybean futures Sv1 also touched a 2-1/2-month low after the USDA on Monday trimmed its U.S. export view and raised its harvest estimate for rival supplier Brazil.

• Under its daily export reporting rules, the U.S. Department of Agriculture on Tuesday confirmed private sales of 320,404 metric tons of U.S. soybeans, with 168,000 tons for shipment to China and 152,404 tons to Mexico - both for delivery in the 2025/26 marketing year.

• Empty barge freight rates continued to firm, particularly on parts of the Illinois and Ohio Rivers, as dealers are scouting for availability later in February, barge sources said.

• For CIF bids, afloats, or soybeans currently on loaded and in transit between locations and ports, traded for 100 cents over CBOT March soybean SH26 futures.

• Meanwhile, CIF bids for Gulf soybean barges loaded in the February-March period traded again at 94 cents over CBOT March soybean futures; March loadings traded at 94 cents over futures; and April loadings traded at 82 cents over CBOT May SK26 soybean futures.

• CIF bids for Gulf soybean barges loaded in January were 2 cents higher at 95 cents over March soybean futures and February barges were bid a penny higher at 93 cents over March futures.

• FOB Gulf offers for vessels loaded in February were up 1 cent at about 117 cents over March futures, and offers for March shipments were up 1 cent at 112 cents over futures.

• CIF Gulf January corn barges loaded in March traded at 91 cents over CBOT March corn CH26 futures.

• CIF Gulf January corn barges were bid 4 cents higher at 86 cents over March corn futures, while February bids were up 2 cents at 90 cents over March futures.

• FOB export premiums for February corn shipments nudged up 1 cent at about 109 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