March 25 (Reuters) - Soybean export premiums at the U.S. Gulf Coast eased on Monday on weak demand for old-crop supplies, although tight stocks of the oilseed prevented prices from falling more sharply, traders said.     * Less expensive South American soybeans were attracting the bulk of near-term demand despite loading delays at Brazilian ports of up to 60 or 65 days.      * Offers for nearby soy shipments from the Gulf were at least $28 per tonne FOB higher than spot shipments from Brazil's Paranagua port, Reuters data showed.     * Top importer China continued to shop for new-crop U.S. soybeans, although traders could not confirm any fresh purchases.     * The U.S. Agriculture Department early on Monday confirmed private sales of 234,000 tonnes of U.S. soybeans to China for 2013/14 marketing year delivery.  
  ID:nL2N0CH0FB
            WHEAT, CORN     * Soft red winter wheat export premiums at the Gulf were lower on weak export demand for the lower protein grain.      * Egypt is unlikely to be able to buy more wheat at international tenders until at least the end of June, despite dangerously low stockpiles. SRW would have been in a strong position to capture Egyptian business.  
  ID:nL5N0CH38X
       * Hard red winter wheat FOB basis offers at the Gulf were mostly steady to weak, capped by a lull in export demand.     * Australian wheat was offered at a considerable discount to rival origins in an Iraqi wheat tender which closed on Sunday.  
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   Iraq has yet to make a purchase, but traders said it was unlikely it would buy U.S. wheat due to the wide price discrepancy.     * A weekend snowstorm dumped more than a foot of snow in Kansas and other sections of the Plains wheat belt, choking off grain movement on Monday. Cold weather raised concerns about damage to some more mature fields.  
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       * U.S. Gulf corn export premiums were flat on sluggish export demand due to uncompetitively high prices.     * Spot offers for Brazilian corn at Paranagua port were about $16 per tonne below U.S. Gulf prices, on a FOB basis, according to Reuters data. Argentine new-crop prices were at least $40 per tonne lower, traders said.          To check displays of FOB basis, please double-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      * FOB U.S. Gulf Grain                    
  GRA/F
       * U.S. grain export summary              
  GRA/U
       * Brazil soybean export prices           
  SYBS
       * Brazil corn export prices              
  SYBX
       * Argentine grain prices                 
  GRAIN/ARG
       * Russian grain prices                   
  GRAIN/RU
     (Reporting by Karl Plume in Chicago; Editing by David Gregorio)  ((karl.plume@thomsonreuters.com)(+1-312-408-8704)(Reuters Messaging: karl.plume.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))   ((For help: double-click "Contact Us" on your desktop, double-click  
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   or call 1-800-738-8377 for Reuters Products and 1-888-463-3383 for Thomson products. For client training: training.americas@thomsonreuters.com))  Keywords: MARKETS GRAINS/FOB