CIF/FOB Gulf Grain-Corn barge basis steady-firm on demand, soy bids flat

CHICAGO, March 31 (Reuters) - Spot basis bids for corn shipped by barge to U.S. Gulf Coast terminals were steady to firm on Tuesday on good demand, while soybean basis bids were mostly flat, traders said.

• U.S. corn export demand remained strong as harvesting of Brazil's large second crop remains several weeks away.

• U.S. soybean export demand was seasonally slow as Brazilian supplies are available at lower prices. Traders are looking ahead to a mid-May U.S.-China summit that could spark Chinese government purchases of U.S. crops.

• CIF Gulf corn barges loaded in March were bid a penny higher at 89 cents over CBOT May CK26 futures. April barge bids were up 1 cent at 89 cents over futures.

• FOB corn offers for vessels loaded in April were unchanged around 96 cents over futures.

• CIF Gulf soybean barges loaded in March were bid steady at 72 cents over CBOT May SK26 soybean futures. April barges were bid steady at 74 cents over futures.

• FOB export premiums for April soybean vessels were unchanged at around 92 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