CIF/FOB Gulf Grain-Soybean, corn basis bids dip on sluggish weekly export sales data

CHICAGO, Feb 26 (Reuters) - Basis bids for soybeans and corn shipped by barge to U.S. Gulf Coast terminals turned lower on Thursday, amid disappointingly low weekly export sales data and as barge freight rates remained elevated, traders said.

• CIF Gulf soybean barges loaded in February were bid at 108 cents over Chicago Board of Trade March SH26 soybean futures, down 4 cents from Wednesday. March loadings were bid at 108 cents over futures, down 1 cent.

• FOB premiums for February soybean export loadings were steady, at around 129 cents over March futures, while March export loadings were steady at 130 cents over futures.

• CIF Gulf corn barges loaded in the first half of March traded at 105 cents over CBOT March CH26 corn futures. Barges loaded in the full month of March traded at 104 cents over futures.

• Meanwhile, CIF corn barges loaded in February were bid at 108 cents over March corn futures, down 2 cents. March barge loadings were down 3 cents, at 102 cents over futures.

• FOB corn export premiums for February were steady at around 125 cents over March futures, while March offers were also steady at around 123 cents over futures.

• U.S. soybean futures Sv1 ended lower on Thursday in a profit-taking dip, after hopes for more U.S. biofuel demand and Chinese imports had pushed prices to their highest levels since mid-2024.

• A Reuters report on Thursday that revealed the U.S. government plans to reallocate at least 50% of exempted biofuel blending obligations to big refiners, known as small refinery exemptions, or SREs, lent further support.

• The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported U.S. net export sales for old-crop corn were 685,804 metric tons in the week ended February 19, missing trader expectations. USDA also reported U.S. net export sales for old-crop soybeans of 407,086 metric tons, on the low end of a range of analyst expectations.

• Separately, USDA on Thursday confirmed private export sales of 178,000 metric tons of U.S. corn for shipment to Japan. Of that, 154,000 metric tons are for delivery in the 2026/27 marketing year and 24,000 metric tons are for delivery in the 2027/28 marketing year.

• Empty barge freight rates remained elevated. Barge sources said that water levels along the central stretch of the Mississippi River could rise sharply if forecasts for rain come true. BG/US

• Spot basis bids for corn and soybeans in the cash market were flat in the U.S. Midwest in quiet trade, while farmer selling slowed after growers raced to take advantage of the recent price rally, spot checks showed.

• Brazil's Agriculture Ministry said on Thursday that the government has concluded sanitary talks, allowing the South American nation to export soybeans to the Philippines, according to a statement.

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