CHICAGO, Feb 17 (Reuters) - Basis bids for soybeans and corn shipped by barge to U.S. Gulf Coast terminals were largely steady on Tuesday, traders said.
<ul>
<li>Soybean demand from top importer China was quiet, with many traders expected to be absent from the market this week due to the Lunar New Year holiday.</li>
<li>Brazil’s ongoing soy harvest increases competition for global export sales, traders said.</li>
<li>Brazilian farmers had harvested 21% of their crop as of last Thursday, according to consultancy AgRural.</li>
<li>The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported that about 1.2 million metric tons of U.S. soybeans and 1.5 million metric tons of U.S. corn were inspected for export last week.</li>
<li>Analysts had estimated weekly export inspections were 820,000 to 1.25 million metric tons for soybeans and 860,000 to 1.3 million metric tons for corn.</li>
<li>Larger-than-expected U.S. soybean crushings in January fueled expectations among traders that the USDA may tighten its carryover outlook.</li>
<li>CIF Gulf soybean barges loaded in February and March were steady at 104 cents over Chicago Board of Trade March (SH26) futures.</li>
<li>FOB premiums for February and March soybean export loadings were flat at about 130 cents over March futures.</li>
<li>CIF corn barges loaded in February were bid at 101 cents over CBOT March (CH26) corn futures, which was unchanged. March barges were 98 cents over futures, which was also steady.</li>
<li>FOB corn export premiums for February remained around 127 cents over March futures, while March offers were unchanged at around 125 cents over futures.</li>
</ul>
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)

FTAG

CORN

SOYB

VEGI

Basis bids for soybeans and corn shipped to U.S. Gulf Coast terminals remained steady. Demand from China was quiet due to the Lunar New Year holiday, while Brazil's soy harvest is increasing competition. The USDA reported significant export inspections for U.S. soybeans and corn. CIF Gulf soybean barges were steady at 104 cents over futures, and FOB premiums for soybeans and corn remained unchanged. Overall, the market shows stability amid varying global factors.

CIF/FOB Gulf Grain-Soybean, corn basis bids stay mostly steady