Corn, soybean barge basis steady on light demand

Basis bids for corn and soybeans shipped by barge to the U.S. Gulf Coast were mostly steady on Tuesday on muted demand and flat-to-lower freight costs, traders said.

* Slow farmer sales curbed the flow of corn and soybeans into the export market pipeline, offsetting the weak Gulf export demand.

* Cold weather in the northern Midwest triggered moderate ice buildup on the Illinois River that slowed river navigation. Low water at the busy Port of St. Louis also prompted shippers to reduce barge drafts, limiting the amount of grain loaded per barge.

* Chinese demand for imported corn and soybeans improved this week following market closures last week for Lunar New Year celebrations. But Chinese buyers were looking to buy U.S. soy off of the Pacific Northwest, which would arrive sooner than Gulf shipments, or cheaper Brazilian new-crop soybeans, a trader said.

* Brazilian trade group Anec forecast the country's January soybean exports at 1.222 million tonnes and corn exports at 4.991 million. Both were strong totals but were below estimates last week.

* CIF Gulf soybean barges loaded in January were bid at 115 cents over Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) March (SH3) futures, while February barges were bid at 107 cents over futures, both unchanged.

* FOB basis offers for February soybean shipments were steady at around 130 cents over March futures, while premiums for March shipments held at 120 cents over futures.

* Basis bids for CIF corn barges loaded in January were unchanged at 87 cents over CBOT March corn (CH3) futures.

* FOB offers for February corn shipments fell 5 cents to around 90 cents over CBOT March futures, and March FOB offers were flat at 99 cents over futures.