CIF/FOB Gulf Grain-Corn barge bids inch higher on exporter needs

CHICAGO, April 15 (Reuters) - Spot basis bids for corn shipped by barge to U.S. Gulf Coast terminals were slightly firmer on Wednesday, supported by demand from exporters while farmer grain sales lagged, traders said.

• Producer sales of corn have stalled in recent weeks as farmers focused on spring fieldwork and held out for higher prices.

• At the Gulf, CIF corn barges loaded in April were bid at 94 cents over CBOT May CK26 futures, up a penny from Tuesday.

• FOB corn vessels loaded at the Gulf in May were offered at around 105 cents over futures, up 5 cents.

• For soybeans, CIF Gulf barges loaded in April were bid at 87 cents over CBOT May SK26 futures, down 3 cents from Tuesday.

• FOB export premiums for May soybean vessels at the Gulf were unchanged at around 100 cents over futures.

• Ahead of Thursday's weekly export sales report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, analysts expected the government to report net sales of old-crop U.S. corn in the week to April 9 at 800,000 to 1,800,000 metric tons.

• Analysts estimated weekly net sales of old-crop U.S. soybeans at 200,000 to 600,000 tons.

• They estimated weekly net sales of old-crop wheat at 75,000 to 250,000 tons and sales of new-crop wheat at 75,000 to 250,000 tons as well.

• Active showers crossed much of the U.S. Midwest and Great Lakes states this week, interrupting early planting, but a drier break was expected early next week before the next round of storms late next week, the Commodity Weather Group said in a client note.

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