A flour mill in Indonesia last week bought up to 60,000 tonnes of wheat from the Black Sea region for August shipment, trade sources said. The deal was signed at around $220-$222 a tonne, including cost and freight (C&F). US wheat prices offered in Asia have risen following a rally in Chicago futures. Dark Northern Spring wheat with 14 percent protein was quoted at $320 a tonne C&F, slightly higher than about 10 days ago.
Hard Red Winter wheat was offered by trading companies at $293 a tonne, C&F, compared with $282 a tonne earlier, while soft white wheat at $255 a tonne, C&F, was slightly lower than earlier offers of $260 a tonne, traders said. "Demand is picking up in Asia as buyers are realising that they are not going to get lower prices as last year," said a Singapore-based trader. "The market is likely to be less amply supplied."
Thailand, a key importer of US wheat in Asia, has covered for supplies until August and buyers are expected to be in the market for September shipment in weeks ahead. Chicago wheat futures are up for a third week in a row, having gained more than 11 percent during this period on expectations of lower production in the United States after a severe drought in the southern Plains.
Yield prospects for hard red winter wheat in northern Kansas were estimated at 38.2 bushels per acre (bpa), according to crop scouts on the first day of an annual three-day tour. Australian farmers are planting wheat in some of the driest soils in years, following on from a severe drought that cut 2017/18 output in the world's fourth-largest wheat exporter to the lowest in a decade.