Soy, corn barge bids flat; fog slows river traffic

Basis bids for soybeans and corn shipped by barge to U.S. Gulf Coast terminals were mostly flat on Friday in thin trade following the Christmas holiday, traders said. Barge freight values were steady but traffic on the lower Mississippi River has been slowed all week by foggy conditions, traders said, delaying shipments and limiting supplies of empty barges. The National Weather Service posted dense fog advisories on Friday afternoon for the Gulf Coast area surrounding New Orleans, Louisiana. The U.S. Department of Agriculture made no export sales announcements under its daily reporting rules. Federal agencies were closed on Friday by an executive order signed earlier this month by U.S. President Donald Trump. The USDA is scheduled to release its next weekly export sales report, covering the week ended December 18, on Wednesday, December 31. CIF bids for Gulf soybean barges loaded in December were steady at 93 cents over Chicago Board of Trade January soybean (SF26) futures. CIF ...