Wheat export premiums higher at US Gulf Coast

Wheat export premiums at the US Gulf Coast were higher on Wednesday following a steep plunge in futures prices and as Egypt issued its second tender this month to buy grain on the world market, traders said. Benchmark US soft red winter wheat futures fell 5.3 percent to a seven-month low and hard red winter wheat futures fell 4.2 percent on long liquidation.
Egypt's GASC set a tender after the futures market closed to buy an unspecified amount of wheat from several non-Black Sea origins for shipment July 21-31. US soft red winter wheat, priced around $270 per tonne FOB at the US Gulf, and French wheat, priced at about $285 to $287 per tonne FOB on the export market, appeared to be the top contenders in the GASC tender, traders said.
GASC vice chairman Nomani Nomani said GASC will postpone purchases of Russian wheat until after Russia's harvest to ensure that it meets quality specs. Tunisia bought 75,000 tonnes optional-origin wheat for shipment in July and August. Traders said the prices paid implied the wheat would be Black Sea origin.
Corn export premiums at the US Gulf Coast were mostly lower on Wednesday amid lackluster demand and ample supplies of alternatives such as feed wheat, traders said. Corn CIF and FOB basis values for August and September have fallen sharply over the past week as the spread between July futures and September futures narrowed from more than 30 cents a bushel to about 5 cents on Wednesday. China may import up to five million tonnes of corn in 2011, US Grains Council president Thomas Dorr said on Wednesday. Rumors of fresh new-crop US corn sales to China, which helped to prop up futures earlier this week, were not confirmed.