Milling & Baking News - July 27, 2004 - 34

I N G R E D I E N T

W E E K

effort to secure milling quality from a harvest troubled with fairly widespread incidence of crop disease.
In Kansas City, No. 1 soft red bids held
at 7@32c over K.C. September. Gulf bids
on nearby dropped early in the week but
rebounded later to end unchanged, at 30c
over Chicago September. Egypt bought
115,000 tonnes of soft red. St. Louis mill
bids eased 4c, to 36c over Chicago September for less than 2 p.p.m. vomitoxin
and minimum 300 falling number. The
Chicago mill basis surged 11c, to 34c over
Chicago September. Northern Illinois and
Wisconsin wheat exhibited high incidence
of disease and concomitant higher-thanoptimal vomitoxin levels. Mill bids in
Toledo advanced 4c, to 3c under Chicago
September. Elevator bids were 7c under
Sept. The Cincinnati mill basis held at 5c
over Chicago Sept. Elevator bids were 1c
over Sept. Michigan white wheat with 1
p.p.m. vomitoxin or less was bid at 10@15c
over Chicago September. There were no
offers of white wheat, as growers were
uncertain about quality.
Harvest was approaching the "thumb"
of Michigan. One miller said he thought
half of the white wheat in his area had 1.5
p.p.m. vomitoxin or less, perhaps 35% of
wheat in 1.5@2.5 p.p.m. range, with the
remainder at higher levels. Some Central
states mills were said to have drawn on
Pacific Northwest for limited supply.
DURUM. The price of choice milling hard
amber durum at Minneapolis was unchanged at $5.05@5.10 a bu. There was

nothing to suggest that any dramatic
change in pricing was likely. Crop condition ratings continued to waver. But there
were no concerns over quality as yet. And
a large Canadian crop provided assurance.
The condition of North Dakota durum
on July 18 was 58% good to excellent
(29% fair) compared with 68% last week
and 67% as recent five-year average for
date. Four per cent of crop was turning
color, compared with 5% as average.
Montana durum condition was 62%
good to excellent compared with 54% a
week earlier and 61% last year. Crop
progress in Montana still lagged normal
because of late planting. Fifty-two per
cent of the crop was headed compared
with 19% last week and 68% last year. MBN

Millfeed
Nearby prices in principal markets
were steady to mostly higher last week,
while prices for September and later
shipment were mixed but mostly lower
in sympathy with sharp losses in corn futures. Trading was light to moderate.
Demand, which had been lacking for
weeks, took a modest upturn last week.
Grind held about even with the previous
week, and there was sufficient buying interest for the supply. Nearby prices in the
Southwest, Upper Midwest and Southeast posted solid gains, while the Central
states and Northeast held about even. In
the Southwest, some mills had sold all
their late-July production earlier when it
appeared prices would move still lower.
The forward selling created a vacuum

Bulk Middlings

30-day shipment, Kansas City, $ per ton

30-day shipment, Chicago West, $ per ton

Bulk Middlings
July 23 close, $ per ton, for following shipping periods
July
August September
Kansas City
53 @ 56 56 @ 60 59 @ 63
Chicago West
73 @ 77 75 @ 79 77 @ 82
Buffalo
57 @ 62 56 @ 61 56 @ 61
South. California 82 @ 86 80 @ 84 80 @ 84
North. California 82 @ 86 80 @ 84 80 @ 84
Pacific Northwest 74 @ 78 74 @ 78 74 @ 78
California and Pacific Northwest prices, delivered rail

34 / Milling & Baking News, July 27, 2004

Nationally Advertised Family Flour
Dollars
Oct-Dec
67 @ 71
77 @ 82
64 @ 69
84 @ 88
84 @ 88
82 @ 86

8-5s

July 23
13.36

Year ago
12.16

Semolina
f.o.b. Minneapolis, $ per cwt
Week's
Year
July 23
change
ago
13.35 @ 13.45 -.10
14.40@ 14.50

that supported spot prices. In the Central
states, the first signs of creep feed demand, interest from Canada and only
moderate run time supported prices.
But it was a different story for deferred
pricing. Most pressure came from
sharply lower corn futures. Mills were reluctant to price millfeed unless they had
the flour already sold. At the same time,
mixers and resellers were hesitant to buy
too far out in a declining market that
could go still lower.
California prices, still unsettled,
firmed early in the week, but turned
lower on poor demand and over supply
later. Prices in the Pacific Northwest
firmed, although trading was light.
Wheat germ was unchanged.
Bulk middlings at $53 a ton in Kansas
City and $60 in Minneapolis compared
with yellow corn at $74.50 K.C., and sorghum at $72.50. Corn gluten feed was up
$1 at $82 a ton. Dehydrated alfalfa was
steady at $119 a ton. MBN

Semolina
Bookings of semolina, granulars and
durum flour were limited last week. Price
changes were narrow.
Pasta manufacturers added to their coverage at their own convenience. Last week,
individual pasta makers completed July
coverage, while others extended contract
balances through August. There was little
interest and seemingly no need to look
much further ahead.
Durum mill grind ranged from four to
six days last week. The Kenosha, Wis.,
pasta plant of American Italian Pasta Co.
during the weekend was expected to suspend operations indefinitely. MBN

Family Flour
Sales of national and regional brands
of family flour were seasonally sluggish
last week. There were no announced
changes in carlot list pricing. Regional
manufacturers still pondered marketing
strategy in the wake of the announcement
a couple weeks back by General Mills that
it had raised its list prices from $1 to $1.80
a bale, according to package size.
Private label manufacturers said their
customers took advantage of the recent
drop in wheat futures prices to book their
remaining needs through December.
Packaging lines were operating heavy
schedules. In instances, operations were
seven days a week. Manufacturers with
capacity to store have built up inventories in anticipation of increased demand
during the fall baking season. Larger customers also were building inventories.
There were no indications of any aggressive summer pricing. National
brands at $1.89 per 5-lb sack were commonplace in the nation's retail outlets. MBN
bakingbusiness.com / world-grain.com

http://www.bakingbusiness.com http://www.world-grain.com

Milling & Baking News - July 27, 2004

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