Sept 3 (Reuters) -Spot basis bids for soybeans and corn shipped by barge to the U.S. Gulf Coast firmed on Tuesday on signs of demand from exporters, brokers said.

* The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) confirmed private sales of 132,000 metric tons of U.S. 2024/25 soybeans to China, following a nearly identical sale announced on Friday.

* Traders noted unconfirmed chatter of further interest in U.S. soybeans from Chinese buyers.

* The USDA reported export inspections of U.S. soybeans in the latest week at 496,860 metric tons, at the high end of trade expectations for 300,000 to 500,000 tons and the highest weekly tally since late March. USDA/I

* The USDA reported weekly corn inspections at 965,292 tons, in line with trade expectations, and wheat inspections at 577,944 tons, near the high end of expectations.

* Brokers continued to monitor low water levels on the Mississippi River due to dry conditions, although barge freight values held steady on Tuesday. BG/US

* At the Gulf, CIF bids for soybean barges loaded in September were up 2 cents at 74 cents over Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) November soybean SX24 futures.

* FOB soybean export premiums for early September loadings at the Gulf were steady at around 107 cents over November futures and last-half September shipments were offered at about 104 cents over futures.

* For corn, CIF Gulf barges loaded in September were bid at 80 cents over CBOT December CZ24 futures, up 3 cents from Friday.

* FOB Gulf September corn export premiums were steady at about 95 cents over CBOT September corn CU24 futures and October premiums held at about 108 cents over December futures.

* After U.S. markets closed, the USDA rated 65% of the U.S. soybean crop as good to excellent, down 2 percentage points from a week ago, while analysts surveyed by Reuters on average had expected a 1-point decline. The USDA also rated 65% of the corn crop as good to excellent, unchanged from last week.

* Some 19% of the U.S. corn crop was mature, the USDA said, ahead of the five-year average of 13%. The government expects to release its first U.S. 2024 corn harvest progress estimate in next week's report. The USDA said 13% of the soybean crop was dropping leaves, one sign of maturity, above the five-year average of 10%. US/COR US/SOY

Reporting by Julie Ingwersen; Editing by Rashmi Aich

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