CHICAGO, Dec 16 (Reuters) -Spot basis bids for corn and soybeans delivered by barge to U.S. Gulf Coast terminals increased on Monday, driven by a recent surge in bargain-buying demand that pushed Chicago corn futures higher, according to traders.

* Still, brokers said a lack of fresh news about Chinese buying and strength in the U.S. dollar .DXY helped keep a cap on spot soybean barge interest.

* One trader said buyers from China and Mexico have been checking on prices for Gulf soybean shipments in late winter and early spring, but no bookings have been made.

* Empty barge freight rates are staying elevated along the Illinois River, particularly near La Grange, as loading and transportation delays are averaging up to two days, brokers said.

* Storms and welcome rainfall over the weekend around the St. Louis, Missouri, area are helping to raise water levels along the Mississippi River and expected to ease draft restrictions along the Mississippi and parts of the Ohio rivers this week, two barge sources said.

* Deeper water levels on the rivers allow shippers to load more grain per barge.

* At the Gulf, CIF soybean barges loaded in December were bid at 90 cents over Chicago Board of Trade January SF25 futures, up 2 cents from Friday.

* FOB export premiums for January soybean shipments were steady at about 109 cents over futures.

* For corn, CIF barges loaded in December were bid at 68 cents over CBOT March CH25 futures, up 1 cent from Friday. January corn barges were bid at 69 cents over futures, while February barges were bid at 72 cents over futures.

* FOB offers for corn shipped from the Gulf in January held steady at nearly 87 cents over CBOT March futures.

Reporting by P.J. Huffstutter; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips

For displays of CIF basis, click on the codes in brackets: U.S. CIF Gulf soybeans GRYM U.S. CIF Gulf corn GRYN U.S. CIF Gulf SRW wheat GRYO U.S. CIF Gulf HRW wheat GRYP
For displays of FOB basis, please click on the following codes in brackets: U.S. FOB Gulf corn GRZC U.S. FOB Gulf soybeans GRZD U.S. FOB Gulf SRW wheat GRZE U.S. FOB Gulf HRW wheat GRZF LINKS Corn prices page: cpurl://apps.cp./cms/?pageid=corn-cash-market
Wheat prices page: cpurl://apps.cp./cms/?pageid=wheat-cash-market
U.S. barge freight BG/US
U.S. export sales estimates USDA/EST
U.S. grain export summary GRA/U
Brazil soybean export prices SYBS
Brazil corn export prices SYBX
Argentina grain prices GRA/ARG
Russia grain prices GRA/RU