Hard red winter wheat basis bids were steady to firmer on Thursday with bids and offers still far apart, wheat sources said. Country sellers were holding tight to wheat supplies and demanding high prices for bushels, merchandisers reported. Offers for January/February/March were far above bids.
"Wheat is difficult to come by these days," said an Oklahoma merchant, who raised the basis a nickel a bushel. "If you want it, you've got to pay through the nose. People aren't letting loose of it. Protein premiums for railcar wheat to and through Kansas City were unchanged.
Kansas City Board of Trade hard red winter wheat futures closed lower on Wednesday, with the December off 17-1/2 cents at $7.16. USDA said weekly export sales of US wheat tallied 316,800 tonnes for the 2011/12 marketing year, down 21 percent from the previous week. Rain was moving through parts of the Plains, helping alleviate dry conditions. Meanwhile snow was hitting eastern Colorado.