CIF/FOB Gulf Grain-Soybean basis bids steady-weak on farmer sales, weaker freight

CHICAGO, Feb 11 (Reuters) - Basis bids for soybeans shipped by barge to U.S. Gulf Coast terminals were flat to lower on Wednesday on easing freight rates and as a pickup in farmer sales to river elevators increased supplies available to exporters, traders said.

• Chicago Board of Trade soybeans Sv1 closed at the highest point in two months on Wednesday as traders awaited fresh purchases by China after U.S. President Trump said Beijing had raised its buying commitment for this season.

• Spot barge freight rates were steady to down 25 points of tariff as river shipping conditions continued to recover from winter weather-related disruptions. BG/US

• The U.S. Department of Agriculture is due to release weekly export sales data early on Thursday. Analysts surveyed by Reuters expect net U.S. corn sales of up to 1.5 million metric tons and soybean sales as high as 1.1 million tons.

• The USDA on Wednesday said private exporters reported sales of 230,560 metric tons of U.S. corn to undisclosed buyers. It was the USDA's first daily corn sales announcement in a week.

• CIF Gulf soybean barges loaded in February and March were bid a penny lower at 101 cents over CBOT March SH26 futures.

• FOB premiums for February and March soybean loadings held steady at around 130 cents over March futures.

• CIF corn barges loaded in February were bid steady at 100 cents over CBOT March CH26 corn futures. March barges were 97 cents over futures, also unchanged.

• FOB corn export premiums held steady at around 127 cents over March futures, while March offers were unchanged at around 125 cents over futures.

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