Milling & Baking News - January 24, 2012 - 34

Ingredient Week 

Bakery Flour
Bookings of bakery ﬂour continued to expand last week from the small volumes booked during the holidays. Prices advanced. Bakers employed various ﬂat-pricing and component strategies. Individual bakers supplying food service companies who had menu pricing to protect booked at least some supply for the rest of 2012 and in exceptional instances into JanuaryMarch 2013. Recent declines in wheat futures encouraged others to cover at least that component of prospective ﬂour bookings for April-June, July-September and even the fourth quarter of 2012. Concerns that the cash hard winter wheat basis was ending its recent slide prodded some bread ﬂour buyers to cover the cash basis even if holding back from completing ﬂour transactions. The crumbling millfeed market generated concerns, and there was some activity in this component by bakers who feared millfeed values might erode further given the bearish undertone in corn and other feed markets in the wake of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s surprisingly large increase in its forecast for the 2011-12 corn supply. Activity in specialty ﬂour was steady. Rye ﬂour pricing declined with a slight slip in the cash rye price to $8.25 a bu. The rye market has been remarkably ﬁrm and mostly stable even as other grain markets recently declined. The ﬁrmness was attributed to a small 2011 crop with remaining supply in strong hands.

Flour grind remained heavy in most areas. Mills ran six to seven days in the Upper Midwest, Central states and Northeast and ﬁve to six in the Southwest and Southeast. West coast grind still was light at about ﬁve days in California and ﬁve to six in the Paciﬁc Northwest. MBN

Family Flour
Sales of national and regional brands of family flour were limited last week. Carlot list prices were unchanged. Shipments were routine. Some grocers and other retailers continued to work down inventories left from the holidays. Attention was turned toward marketing approaches for Easter, which typically is the next occasion for an increase in home baking beyond the norm. With wheat prices down during the past several weeks, some manufacturers considered more assertive trade activation programs. One manufacturer suggested retail shelf offers of family flour at two 5-lb bags for $4 may be commonplace during the run-up to Easter. Most private label flour buyers have taken partial or even complete coverage of their needs through old crop. MBN

Semolina
Bookings of semolina, granulars and durum ﬂour were limited last week. Prices declined. The price of choice milling hard amber durum quoted as a delivered Chicago/ beyond value was $11 a bu, down 15c from the previous week. The Minneapolis price was 30c a bu lower than the

Chicago quote, or $10.70, taking into account the rail freight rate differential between the two markets. It should be noted that amid a dearth of trading of spot durum, with most supply moving against contracts, pegging value was problematic. Some quotes, reﬂecting bids, were much lower, even down to $10 a bu, while other quotes reﬂecting offers were as high as $11.50 a bu. The Canadian Wheat Board offered milling durum held in storage in Thunder Bay, Ont., at the equivalent of $11.15 a bu. All agreed, though, that price likely will continue to trend lower until demand is uncovered. Pasta manufacturers earlier covered nearly all of their semolina needs through March. Millers reported “tire kicking” for quotes and additional second-quarter ownership. Coverage for April-June was estimated at about 35%. Many pasta makers were trying get a grip on how much more downside there was in the durum market. The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Jan. 12 forecast durum plantings in Arizona and California at 230,000 acres, up 30,000 acres from 2011 and compared with 185,000 acres in 2010. The U.S.D.A.’s ﬁeld ofﬁce in Arizona said durum planting in that state was twothirds completed by Jan. 15. MBN

Bakers standard, Kansas City
Bulk, f.o.b. car, $ per cwt
$26.00 $23.00 $20.00 $17.00 $14.00 $11.00 J A J
Previous Year

Bakery ﬂour
Bulk, f.o.b. car, $ per cwt Kansas City Bakers short patent Bakers standard patent Second clear Third clear Minneapolis Spring short patent Spring standard patent High gluten Whole wheat Specialty whole wheat Fancy spring clear First spring clear Rye, white Chicago Cracker Fancy cake New York Winter/spring blend Spring standard patent High gluten Fancy cake Rye, white Los Angeles Bakers standard patent Pastry — Change from — Year Jan. 20 Jan. 13 Jan. 6 ago 19.00 18.90 14.00 NA 21.90 21.80 24.80 21.80 22.15 21.65 21.55 21.25 15.50 17.00 21.40 24.40 27.40 19.00 23.75 21.90 21.75 0.80 0.80 — ... 1.75 1.75 1.75 1.75 1.75 1.75 1.75 -0.25 0.35 0.35 0.80 2.05 2.05 0.35 -0.25 0.80 0.80 0.85 0.85 — ... 2.35 2.35 2.35 2.35 2.35 2.35 2.35 0.30 0.25 0.25 0.85 2.80 2.80 0.25 0.30 -0.35 1.05

No. 1 hard amber durum
Track, Minneapolis $ per bu Jan. 20 Choice milling 13% 10.70 cents per bu 21.20 Amber discount 10.00 21.10 Durum discount 10@40 12.50 Pufﬁng premium 0 5.80 — Change from — Year Jan. 13 Jan. 6 ago -.15 -.90 11.00 — — — — — — 10.00 10@40 0
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Current Year

Spring standard, Minneapolis
Bulk, f.o.b. car, $ per cwt
$33.00 $29.00

Semolina

24.55 24.45 27.45 24.45 24.80 24.30 24.20 20.70 19.35 20.85 23.60 27.00 30.00 22.85 23.20 21.65 21.20

Bulk, f.o.b. Minneapolis, $ per cwt — Change from — Jan. 20 Jan. 13 Jan. 6 Semolina 26.45 -.30 -1.80 Granulars 26.25 -.30 -1.80 Flour 26.15 -.30 -1.80 First clear 19.10 — — Second clear 13.00 — — Semolina - N.Y. 29.15 -.30 -1.80

Year ago 26.60 26.40 26.30 13.60 11.00 29.30

$25.00 $21.00 $17.00 $13.00 J A J
Previous Year

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Current Year

Nationally advertised family ﬂour
Dollars Jan. 20 Family patent, 2-25s papers 24.12 4-10s n.a. 8-5s 18.62 18-2s 20.64 Self-rising n.a. Year ago 22.50 18.25 18.40 21.76 +88c per bale

Cracker ﬂour, Chicago
Bulk, f.o.b. car, $ per cwt
$22.00 $18.00 $14.00 $10.00 J A J
Previous Year

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Current Year

34 / January 24, 2012 Milling & Baking News

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Milling & Baking News - January 24, 2012

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