Spot basis bids for hard red winter (HRW) wheat were steady to easier in the southern US Plains on Thursday and farmer selling was thin as K.C. HRW wheat futures skidded to life-of-contract lows, dealers said. The track basis at the US Gulf export terminal eased by 5 cents, to 235 cents above the K.C. March HRW wheat futures contracts. The Gulf basis reaching 240 over futures this week, its highest in Reuters data dating to 2008.
Despite falling futures prices, one northwest Kansas merchandiser noted a few scattered cash wheat sales from farmers seeking cash ahead of the end-year holidays. K.C. March HRW wheat settled down 2-3/4 cents at $4.20-3/4 per bushel after dipping to a contract low of $4.18-1/2.
Dry conditions remained a concern across the southern Plains as the 2018 HRW crop entered winter dormancy. The weekly US Drought Monitor, compiled by a consortium of climatologists, showed that 63 percent of top wheat state Kansas was abnormally dry, up from 47 percent the previous week.
The Drought Monitor showed 50.6 percent of Oklahoma in moderate drought, up from 39.9 percent a week earlier. Protein premiums for railcar wheat to and through Kansas City were unchanged on Thursday.
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.