Milling & Baking News - May 25, 2004 - 37

I N G R E D I E N T

ficient, and mills had to look to the spot
market for wheat to fill in gaps left by supply purchased but delayed in shipment.
Elevators seemed to be less than eager to
load out their remaining old crop wheat.
Farmers had little left to sell.
Railroads have made some progress in
improving service. But ongoing shipping
delays made for careful planning when it
came to purchases on spot market.
While mills sought out spot offers,
buyers remained selective. Colorado
wheat often was bid well below quoted
ranges. Wheat with that origin required
blending with wheat from other origins,
and loadings of Colorado wheat have
been excessive for that purpose for the
past several weeks.
Export bids on hard winter wheat declined 4c a bu early and the week and
then steadied. Export demand for old
crop wheat was waning with the approach of the winter wheat harvest to key
producing areas.
Mills put out bids on new crop wheat,
but with sometimes narrow specifications. One milling company sought either 11.6% protein or the new crop average. Elevators were reluctant to commit
themselves to meeting such specifications until they could be more certain of
new crop characteristics.
Because of slack offers of old crop and
a possibly rapid harvest, the transition to
grinding new crop supply could be quite
short, according to one miller.
Initial combining was under way in
northern Texas and southern Oklahoma.
The Fort Worth Grain Exchange reported
May 20 its first receipt new crop rail cars.
The five cars were from Wichita county,
Texas, and averaged 13.1% in protein,
61.3 lbs in test weight, 12.9% in moisture
and 1.3% in total defects.
Rain fell across the hard winter belt,
but hot and dry conditions subsequently
spread across western areas. Wheat condition across the Southwest declined in
the week ended May 16. Rated good to
excellent was 35% of wheat in Kansas
(32% fair) compared with 35% the preceding week, 43% in Texas (34% fair) versus 42%, 51% in Oklahoma (33% fair) versus 54%, 31% in Nebraska (35% fair) 35%,
and 22% in Colorado (32%) 18%. Crop
progress was ahead of average.
HARD SPRING. Premiums on hard red
spring wheat were unchanged to 20c a bu
lower last week. Mill demand has been
more active recently, with pipelines wearing thin during an extended period of
slack movement. Offers of 13% protein
wheat, much sought the preceding week,
gradually became excessive. Premiums on
13% protein spring wheat declined
sharply as a result. Premiums on 14% probakingbusiness.com / world-grain.com

tein wheat also lost ground. Demand for
spring wheat at export elevators along the
shore of Lake Superior was negligible.
Spring wheat planting was nearly
completed as of May 16. Seeded was 84%
of the North Dakota crop, 100% in South
Dakota, 97% in Minnesota and 93% in
Montana.Spring wheat emergence by
May 16 across the six key producing
states was 62%, compared with 44% as
the recent five-year average for the date.

W E E K

Farmer selling of old crop wheat remained very light, though growers soon
would be freed from planting activities.
SOFT RED. Mill bids on soft red winter
wheat last week were mostly steady.
Mills seemed to be fairly well provisioned, with no urgency evident regarding old crop supply required to transition
to new crop. Mills' wheat coverage was
said to be pretty solid through June or

Minneapolis Wheat Futures

No. 1 Hard Winter

July contract, $ per bu

Basis Kansas City July, cents per bu
Premium Week's Change Year ago
Ordinary
16 @26
-
48@68
11%
25 @35
+5 @+5
48@68
11.2%
29 @39
+6 @+6
48@68
11.4%
35 @45
+1 @+1
48@68
11.6%
36 @46
-
48@68
11.8%
36 @46
-
48@68
12%
42 @52
+2 @+2
51@71
12.2%
42 @52
+2 @+2
51@71
12.4%
44 @54
+1 @+1
51@71
12.6%
48 @58
+4 @+4
56@76
12.8%
48 @58
+2 @+2
56@76
13%
50 @60
+3 @+3
56@76
13.2%
51 @61
+3 @+3
56@76
13.4%
52 @62
+3 @+3
56@76
13.6%
53 @63
+3 @+3
56@76
13.8%
53 @63
+3 @+3
56@76
14%
53 @63
+3 @+3
56@76

Minneapolis Wheat Futures
September contract, $ per bu

No. 1 Hard Spring, Minneapolis
Milling quality, basis July, cents per bu
Premium Week's Change Year ago
Ordinary
...
...
...
11%
...
...
...
12%
23
...
...
13%
25 @ 30
-17 @ -20
...
14%
38 @ 55
-12 @ -10
55 @ 60
14.5%
...
...
...
15%
85 @ 90
-5 @ 0
65 @ 75
16%
...
...
...
17%
...
...
...

Wheat Futures
No. 1 Hard Amber Durum

$ per bu
Week's
change
May 21 (cents) High
Kansas City
July
3.871/4 +71/2 4.16
September 3.913/4 +63/4 4.20
December 3.991/4 +63/4 4.291/2
March
4.05
+7 4.34
May
4.10
... 4.081/2
Chicago
July
3.681/4 +93/4 3.93
September 3.761/2 +111/4 3.991/2
December 3.85
+91/2 4.12
March
3.93
+11 4.15
May
3.91
+11 4.05
Minneapolis
July
4.061/2 +51/4 4.291/2
September 4.083/4 +61/4 4.30
December 4.131/2 +71/4 4.331/2
March
4.141/2 +71/2 4.311/4
May
4.16
+10 4.35

Track, $ per bu
Low

Year
ago

3.771/4
3.85
3.901/2
3.98
4.03

3.261/2
3.303/4
3.391/4
3.421/2
3.40

3.563/4
3.64
3.741/2
3.801/2
3.80

3.223/4
3.271/4
3.37
3.433/4
3.34

3.99
4.001/4
4.04
4.07
4.06

3.561/2
3.561/2
3.61
3.653/4
3.65

Choice milling

May 21
5.25

Week's
change
-

Year
ago
5.30

Exporter bids and offers
No. 1 Hard 11%, Track Gulf
Basis Kansas City future, cents per bu
For shipment
Bid
Offer
Year ago bid
May
45 over July
56 45 over July
June
43 over July
52 40 over July
July
42 over July
52 42 over July

No. 2 Soft Red, c.i.f. New Orleans
Basis Chicago future, cents per bu
For shipment
Bid
Offer
Year ago bid
May
30 over July
35 33 over July
June
20 over July
24 23 over July
July
19 over July
23 24 over July

Milling & Baking News, May 25, 2004 / 37

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Milling & Baking News - May 25, 2004

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