US Plains hard red winter wheat basis bids were steady to firmer on Thursday, with harvesting slowly picking up in top US producer Kansas but early results disappointing. Low yields and undesirably low test weights were characterising the new bushels showing up at elevators along southern and central Kansas.
In Oklahoma, many areas of the state also were seeing poor yields and poor quality. "This crop needs a mercy killing," said one Oklahoma merchant. Protein premiums for railcar wheat to and through Kansas City were steady to 5 cents a bushel higher as mills sought to fill needs amid the rain-slowed harvest progress in the Plains.
Wheat futures rallied on Wednesday on the crop troubles. The Kansas City Board of Trade July wheat contract ended up 17-1/4 cents at $5.86-1/2, and the September ended up 19-1/4 cents at $5.97-3/4.
The market was expected to see more gains on Thursday, though some hedging could limit upward pricing. USDA reported Thursday that weekly export sales of US wheat totalled 541,000 tonnes, 31 percent above the previous week. Trade estimates were for 150,000 to 350,000 tonnes.
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.