Milling & Baking News - March 11, 2008 - 46

Ingredient Week

Cash Wheat

HARD WINTER. Premiums on hard red
winter wheat in Kansas City plunged
7@185c a bu last week. The widest losses
were sustained on high-protein wheat.
Despite the steep declines, hard winter
cash wheat premiums remained historically high.
The buckling of the Kansas City basis
was directly related to the collapse in
cash spring wheat premiums in Minneapolis. Many specialty bread bakers and
other traditional users of spring grades
recently switched to blends favoring
greater use of hard red winter wheat
versus spring wheat or where possible
switched to using flour milled exclusively from hard winter wheat. The substitution along with filled domestic pipelines
pushed the Minneapolis spring wheat
market lower and allowed swift reaction
in Kansas City, where nearby mill needs
were minor. At the same time, there
was an increase in wheat purchasing
for April-June. Exporter bids at the Gulf
gained greater definition.
Farmer selling of old crop wheat was
lacking. Growers already sold more than
95% of their 2007 production. Producer
sales of new crop supply were higher
than typical for the date, but this business was transacted weeks ago. Recent
new crop sales were few.
Four hard winter wheat states of the
Southwest revised crop condition ratings. The Texas field office of the U.S. Department of Agriculture rated the state's
wheat condition as of March 2 at 31%
very poor, 32% poor, 27% fair, 9% good
and 1% excellent. Kansas wheat at the end
of February was rated 7% excellent (6% a
month earlier), 35% good (36%), 37% fair
(33%), 16% poor (19%) and 5% very poor
(6%). KAS indicated about 4% of the crop
was lost to winterkill. Most of the state
received moderate precipitation in Feb-

No. 1 hard winter
Basis Kansas City May, cents per bu
March 7 - Change from -
Premium Feb. 29 Feb. 22
Ordinary 55@ 70
-7@ -7
-3@ -3
11%
60@ 75 -10@ -10
-
11.2% 65@ 80
-8@ -8
-1@ -1
11.4% 75@ 90 -35@ -35 -30@ -30
11.6% 80@ 95 -50@ -50 -45@ -45
11.8% 95@ 110 -70@ -70 -75@ -75
12%
105@ 120 -80@ -80 -95@ -95
12.2% 125@ 140 -75@ -75 -85@ -85
12.4% 145@ 160 -65@ -65 -75@ -75
12.6% 155@ 170 -75@ -75 -90@ -90
12.8% 175@ 190 -85@ -85 -110@ -110
13%
225@ 240 -100@ -100 -125@ -125
13.2% 245@ 260 -150@ -150 -140@ -140
13.4% 265@ 280 -160@ -160 -150@ -150
13.6% 285@ 300 -180@ -180 -170@ -170
13.8% 305@ 320 -185@ -185 -185@ -185
14%
360@ 375 -150@ -150 -230@ -230
bakingbusiness.com / world-grain.com

Year
ago
39 @ 49
48 @ 58
52 @ 62
52 @ 62
52 @ 62
52 @ 62
55 @ 65
55 @ 65
55 @ 65
55 @ 65
57 @ 67
57 @ 67
57 @ 67
57 @ 67
57 @ 67
52 @ 62
52 @ 62

ruary. Topsoil moisture was rated 22%
surplus, 62% adequate, 12% short and 4%
very short. Soil moisture conditions also
improved in Oklahoma, where wheat
was rated 5% excellent (3% a month earlier), 39% good (29%), 33% fair (39%), 14%
poor (18%) and 9% very poor (11%). Nebraska wheat was rated 6% excellent (4%
a month earlier), 51% good (54%), 36%
fair (35%) and 6% poor (6%).
Rain fell across central and eastern
Texas and eastern Oklahoma, and eastern Kansas received snow toward the
week's end. A meteorologist addressing members of the Kansas City Board
of Trade indicated the next chance for
significant precipitation across western
portions of the hard winter wheat belt
will be around March 15.
HARD SPRING. Premiums on hard
red spring wheat in Minneapolis nosedived 125c a bu last week on the heels of
50@150c losses the previous week. Mill
pipelines were filled. Domestic demand
for spring wheat was reduced by heavy
substitution of middle-protein and highprotein hard winter wheat for spring
wheat by mills across the nation. Export
elevators at Duluth-Superior continued
to hold back from the rail market. Even
loyal foreign buyers of spring wheat
switched some purchases to hard red
winter wheat because of price.
The impressive drop in the market
came in the face of piddling rail car offers.
The market was notifying country wheat
owners it could not absorb more spring

wheat in the near term, and it seemed
wheat shippers received the message.
Despite a couple of winter storms in the
northern Plains in February, moderate to
severe drought conditions were present
in the western half of North Dakota.
SOFT RED. Mill bids on soft red winter wheat were mostly unchanged. The
cash soft red winter wheat market was
calm in contrast to the tumult seen in
hard wheat markets. In Kansas City,
No. 1 soft red bids declined 10c, to 5@40c
over K.C. May. Gulf bids on soft red
for March declined 5c, to 45c over Chicago March. St. Louis mill bids were 15c
over the Chicago May for 2 p.p.m. or
less vomitoxin. Chicago mill bids were
20c over Chicago May. Mill bids in Toledo were 125c under Chicago July; new
crop, 120c under July. Elevator bids were
10c under March; new crop, 110c under
July. Cincinnati mill bids were 10c under Chicago May. Elevator bids were 45c
under May; new crop, 170c under July.
Michigan white wheat mill bids were
50c under Chicago March to 10c over;
new crop, 70c to 20c under July.
The Illinois field office of the U.S.D.A.
rated the state's wheat condition at the
end of February at 22% excellent, 56%
good, 20% fair and 2% poor. North
Carolina wheat was rated 8% excellent,
59% good, 31% fair and 2% poor. Georgia wheat was rated 19% excellent, 50%
good, 27% fair, 3% poor and 1% very
poor. Drought area in the Southeast was
diminishing. MBN

No. 1 hard spring

Cash wheat

Milling quality, basis Minneapolis May, cents per bu
March 7
- Change from -
Year
Premium Feb. 29
Feb. 22
ago
Ordinary
...
...
...
...
11%
...
...
...
...
12%
...
...
...
...
13%
150
...
-250
50 @ 55
13.5%
...
...
...
...
14%
175
-125
-250
50 @ 55
14.5%
...
...
...
...
15%
...
...
...
45 @ 60
16%
...
...
...
35
17%
...
...
...
...

Exporter bids and offers
For
March 7
shipment
Bid
Offer
No. 1 Hard 12%, Track Gulf
Basis Kansas City future, cents per bu
March
+100 May
120
April
+110 May
...
May
+100 May
...
June
+70 July
...
No. 2 Soft Red, c.i.f. New Orleans
Basis Chicago future, cents per bu
March
+45 May
60
April
+45 May
60
May
...
June
-90 July
-75

Year ago
bid

+72
+72
+68
+60

May
May
May
July

-12
-10
-10
-14

May
May
May
July

March 7 - Change from -
For shipment
Bid Feb. 29
Feb. 22
No. 1 Soft White, Track, Portland
$ per bu
Nearby
...
...
...
March
...
...
...
April
...
...
...
No. 1 Hard 11.5%, Track, Portland
Basis Kansas City future, $ per bu
Nearby
1.70
...
-
March
1.70
...
-.05
April
2.05
...
-.05
No. 1 Spring 14%, Track, Portland
Basis Minneapolis future, $ per bu
Nearby
...
...
...
March
...
...
...
April
3.00
...
-1.50

Year
ago
5.52
5.52
5.56
0.87
0.87
0.87

0.90
0.90
0.91

Canadian domestic milling wheat
Change
Year
In-store, Thunder Bay,
March 7 from Feb. 29 ago
Canadian $ per tonne
Western red spring 13.5% 544.56 -173.58
247.23
Soft white spring
468.14
+.12
246.16
Amber durum
910.78 -52.26
286.18
U.S. $ per bu
Western red spring 13.5% 14.95
-5.00
5.75
Soft white spring
12.85
-0.15
5.72
Amber durum
25.00
-1.75
6.65
Milling & Baking News

March 11, 2008 / 47

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

Milling & Baking News - March 11, 2008

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Milling & Baking News - March 11, 2008