CIF/FOB Gulf Grain-Soybean basis bids firm as China books more cargoes
CHICAGO, Oct 21 (Reuters) - Basis bids for soybeans shipped by barge to the US Gulf Coast rose further on Wednesday after the US Department of Agriculture confirmed additional export sales to China.
The USDA confirmed private sales of 134,000 metric tons of US soybeans to China under its daily reporting rules, the sixth sales announcement to China in as many business days, along with another 165,000 tons sold to Spain.
Chinese state stockpiler Sinograin said it will auction 512,000 metric tons of imported soybeans on October 27. Sinograin has held a series of soybean auctions in recent months, a move seen by analysts as an effort to make space for US soy purchases.
At the Gulf, CIF soybean barges loaded in October were bid at 103 cents over Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) November soybean futures, up 4 cents from Tuesday.
FOB export premiums for Gulf soybeans loaded in November held steady at around 120 cents over futures.
For corn, CIF corn barges loaded in October were bid at 80 cents over CBOT December corn futures, down 3 cents from Tuesday. But November corn barges traded at 94 cents over futures and were re-bid at 93 cents over futures, up 3 cents from Tuesday's bid.
Favorable weather in the heart of the US Midwest this week has promoted the active harvest of soybeans and corn, traders said.
In global news, Egypt's state grain buyer, Future of Egypt, purchased about five cargoes of wheat this week in one of its first known imports in months, six trading sources told Reuters, as disruptions to Black Sea exports tighten supplies.
Ahead of the weekly USDA export sales report on Thursday, analysts expect the government to report net US soybean sales in the week ended October 15 at 1.8 million to 3.0 million metric tons.
Analysts estimated net weekly corn sales of 700,000 to 1.5 million tons and wheat sales of 250,000 to 550,000 tons.
For displays of CIF basis, click on the codes in brackets:
US CIF Gulf soybeans
US CIF Gulf corn
US CIF Gulf SRW wheat
US CIF Gulf HRW wheat
For displays of FOB basis, please click on the following codes in brackets:
US FOB Gulf corn
US FOB Gulf soybeans
US FOB Gulf SRW wheat
US FOB Gulf HRW wheat
LINKS
US barge freight BG/US
US export sales estimates USDA/EST
US grain export summary GRA/U
Brazil soybean export prices
Brazil corn export prices