Corn, soy barge bids firm on export sales, slow farmer sales

Basis bids for corn and soybeans shipped by barge to the U.S. Gulf Coast were steady to higher on Tuesday, supported by a flurry of recent export sales combined with a thin trickle of farmer grain sales ahead of the autumn harvest, traders said.

* CIF bids and offers for both crops remained sharply inverted, with prompt barges trading at hefty premiums to deferred shipment slots when the fall harvest should replenish bins. "If you're a buyer (now), you've got to pay the piper," one trader said.

* The U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed private sales of 133,000 tonnes of U.S. corn to China for delivery in the 2022/23 marketing year that begins on Sept. 1. The deal followed corn sales to Italy and unknown destinations announced a day earlier, along with news of U.S. soybean sales to China in recent days.

* CIF corn barges loaded in August were bid at around 116 cents over Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) September corn (CU2) futures, up 6 cents from Monday's last bid.

* September-loaded corn barges traded at 101 cents over September (CU2) futures and were re-bid at the same level. November barges traded at 99 cents over December (CZ2) futures.

* FOB corn export premiums for September loadings at the Gulf were around 140 cents over September (CU2) futures, up a penny from Monday.

* For soybeans, CIF barges loaded in September traded at 160 cents over CBOT November futures (SX2) and were re-bid at 150 cents over futures, steady with Monday's late bid.

* Bids and offers for soy barges loaded in the full month of August were far apart, with bids quoted at 230 cents over November futures (SX2) against offers of 300 cents over futures. Meanwhile, soy barges loaded Aug. 1-5 traded at 315 cents over November (SX2) futures, while first-half August barges traded at 94 cents over August (SQ2) futures.

* FOB export premiums for September soybean loadings held steady at around 290 cents over November (SX2) futures.

* Barge freight costs firmed on the Illinois River despite the thin pace of farmer grain sales into river marketing channels. Barges for this week on the Illinois were offered at 460% of tariff, up from 450% on Monday.