Dec 5 (Reuters) - Basis bids for soybeans shipped by barge
to the U.S. Gulf Coast held mostly steady early on Thursday on
tight supplies in the export pipeline and good spot demand from
at least one short-bought exporter, traders said.
    * CIF corn basis bids were mostly steady to weaker, with
nearby values weighed down by limited demand.
    * CIF wheat basis bids were flat.
    * Spot barge freight rates were largely unchanged after
easing in recent days on adequate supplies of empty barges. The
looming seasonal closure of the upper Mississippi River is
	

		

			
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drawing more vessels south.
    * Heavy precipitation was expected along the Ohio River
valley and forecasts call for a steep rise in water levels on
the river. Meanwhile, low water on the Mississippi is limiting
barge drafts, traders said.
    * Export sales data released by the U.S. Department of
Agriculture showed corn, soybean and wheat sales last week below
trade expectations. Wheat sales were a marketing year low and
China bought only 6,500 tonnes of soybeans for 2013/14 delivery.
   
    * USDA on Thursday confirmed private sales of 110,000 tonnes
of soybeans to China for 2014/15 delivery. 
    * CIF basis bids for soybean barges loaded in the first half
of December were 105 cents over Chicago Board of Trade January
futures, a penny below traded values on Wednesday.
Last-half December bids held steady at 106 over.
    * CIF basis bids for corn barges loaded in the first half of
December were down a penny at 67 cents per bushel over CBOT
March futures while last-half December bids were flat at
70 over. January barges were bid 70 cents over after actively
trading at 72 over on Wednesday.
    * CIF basis bids for first-half December soft red winter
wheat barges were 98 cents over CBOT March futures, down 2
cents, while last-half December barge bids were unchanged at 90
over.
    
	

		

			
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    To check displays of CIF basis, double-click on following:
    U.S. CIF Gulf soybeans 
    U.S. CIF Gulf corn 
    U.S. CIF Gulf SRW wheat 
    U.S. CIF Gulf HRW wheat 
        
    LINKS:
    * FOB U.S. Gulf Coast Grain             
    * U.S. grain export summary             
    * Brazil soybean export prices           
    * Brazil corn export prices              
    * U.S. barge freight                    

 (Reporting by Karl Plume in Chicago; Editing by Maureen Bavdek)