July 22 (Reuters) -Spot basis bids for corn shipped by barge to U.S. Gulf Coast terminals were steady to higher on Monday as traders watched for signs of export demand.

* Exporters struck deals to sell 133,000 metric tons of U.S. corn to Mexico for 2024-25 delivery, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said.

* The USDA reported weekly U.S. corn export inspections of 970,539 metric tons and U.S. soy inspections of 327,061 metric tons. Both were within analysts' expectations.

* Analysts said U.S. corn and soy export demand remains lackluster.

* China, the world's top soy importer, surprised markets by lowering a string of major short and long-term interest rates. A grain broker doubted the move will boost Chinese economic growth enough to increase its corn and soy demand.

* CIF corn barges loaded in July were bid around 66 cents over Chicago Board of Trade September CU24 corn futures, up 3 cents from Friday. Barges loaded in August were bid about 68 cents over futures, which was unchanged.

* FOB offers for corn shipments loaded from the Gulf in August were flat at around 78 cents over September futures. Premiums for deferred months also were steady, after jumping last week on anticipated U.S. export demand, traders said.

* CIF soybean barges loaded in July were bid at 79 cents a bushel over CBOT August SQ24 futures, down 1 cent from Friday. Bids for August barge loadings were 68 cents over futures, which was steady.

* FOB export premiums for soybean shipments loaded from the Gulf in August were flat at around 93 cents over CBOT August futures. Premiums for deferred months firmed sharply last week, traders said.

Reporting by Tom Polansek; Editing by Alan Barona

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