CHICAGO, Feb 6 (Reuters) - Basis bids for soybeans shipped by barge to U.S. Gulf Coast terminals firmed on Friday, and corn basis bids eased, as this week’s rally in U.S. soybean futures stretched on, traders said.
<ul>
<li>Chicago Board of Trade soybeans (Sv1) continued a three-day rally on Friday, fueled by President Donald Trump’s remarks on Wednesday that China would buy more U.S. soybeans.</li>
<li>Brokers said they continued to see a flurry of farmers selling soybeans in the cash market as futures rallied, which has pushed more oilseeds into Midwest marketing channels that feed exporters at the Gulf.</li>
<li>The soybean cash basis was steady to lower at several Midwest crushing plants, according to spot checks.</li>
<li>CIF Gulf soybean barges loaded in February were bid at around 109 cents over Chicago Board of Trade March (SH26) futures, up 2 cents from Thursday.</li>
<li>FOB export premiums for soybeans shipped from the Gulf in February were 2 cents lower at around 124 cents over March futures, and March FOB offers were also down 2 cents at 128 cents over futures.</li>
<li>For corn, February CIF corn barges were bid at 105 cents over CBOT March (CH26) corn futures, down 4 cents from Thursday.</li>
<li>FOB export premiums for corn shipped from the Gulf in February were up 1 cent at around 122 cents over March futures, and March FOB offers were steady at 120 cents over futures.</li>
<li>Barge freight rates continue to hold at elevated levels due to the weather-related delays. (BG/US)</li>
<li>But forecasts for warming temperatures had brokers hoping that weather-related navigation issues along the Illinois River might begin to ease next week.</li>
<li>Sales by Brazilian farmers of the new soybean crop have lagged previous years, though that will not prevent the world’s largest producer and exporter of the oilseed from shipping high volumes through February, according to analysts and shipping data.</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)

CIF/FOB Gulf Grain-Soybean barge basis bids firm, corn bids ease