Corn, soy basis firm as futures sink to new lows

Basis bids for corn and soybeans shipped by barge to export terminals near the U.S. Gulf Coast were firm on Wednesday, on moderate demand for spot shipments and lower futures prices, traders said.

* Chicago Board of Trade corn ZC1! and soybean ZS1! futures fell on Wednesday to the lowest point since late 2020 under pressure from rising global stockpiles.

* Near-term supplies in the Gulf export pipeline were tight as farmer selling has slowed with the recent price drop.

* Some exporters offered premiums for soy barges arriving at the Gulf before the end of the month as they needed to fill near-term export commitments.

* But new export demand was light as many buyers in Asia were away from offices for the Lunar New Year holiday. Carnival celebrations in South America limited market activity earlier this week.

* CIF Gulf soybean barges loaded in February were bid 76 cents over Chicago Board of Trade March soybean (SH24) futures, up 3 cents from late Tuesday. March barges traded at 71 cents over futures, up a penny.

* Tight export loading capacity at Gulf elevators underpinned FOB soybean basis offers, with February loadings offered at around 85 cents over futures and March offers at 81 cents over futures.

* February corn barges were bid 3 cents higher at 56 cents over CBOT March (CH24) futures. February export premiums were unchanged at 67 cents over futures.

* The U.S. Department of Agriculture is due to release weekly export sales data early on Thursday. Analysts surveyed by Reuters expect net old-crop corn sales at 800,000 to 1.5 million metric tons and soybean sales at 300,000 to 800,000 tons.