Milling & Baking News - April 6, 2010 - 49

Ingredient Week 

 Bakery Flour

Bookings of bakery flour were brisk
last week. Prices declined.
Wheat futures prices dropping below
$5 a bu in the nearby contracts to set
new contract lows on all three exchanges set off a flurry of flour bookings and
component activity. Flat pricing and the
assembling of components completed
several flour bookings for the second
quarter. It was estimated the week's
activity pushed April-June pan bread
flour coverage up to 65% or even 70% of
prospective needs.
Flat bookings also were indicated for
July-September.
Bakers were especially active in covering the futures component of prospective flour bookings as far forward as
the third and fourth quarters of 2010. In
instances, futures coverage was taken
into the first quarter of 2011. One miller
suggested some bakers have covered up
to a third of their prospective futures requirements through December.
Cookie-cracker and specialty bakers took futures coverage but refrained
from completing flour transactions past
June in the hope the cash basis on soft
red winter wheat might show some
weakness with the approach of the new
crop harvest. At the same time, with
the 2010 crop forecast by millers to be
the smallest since 1978, it was uncertain whether the softening they sought
would materialize.
Bread bakers also hoped for weaker
cash wheat premiums before they book

Bakery flour

 Family Flour

Sales of national and regional brands
of family flour were limited last week.
Carlot list prices were unchanged.
With Easter orders filled, shipments
declined sharply. It seemed the national
brands captured a larger-than-typical
share of holiday-related sales, aided by
fairly aggressive marketing. Some private label manufacturers indicated they
didn't experience the typical rush in
sales leading up the holiday this year
and attributed this to the aggressive
stance taken by the national brands.
Wheat futures prices dropping to
new contract lows and settling below
$5 a bu encouraged several flour buyers
for store private labels to book their requirements through the fall home baking season and even through December.
It was suggested should wheat futures
prices continue to decline, many more

buyers will decide to follow suit. MBN

 Semolina

Bookings of semolina, granulars and
durum flour were steady last week. Price
changes were narrow.
Most pasta manufacturers earlier covered their semolina needs through June.
Most activity in the past couple of weeks
involved incremental additions to JulyAugust ownership. With summer semolina priced at only a narrow premium to
the nearby, pasta makers have been content adding coverage at their own pace.
The Minneapolis price of choice milling
hard amber durum was $5.55 a bu, down
5c; the Chicago price was $5.85 a bu.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture
on March 31, on the basis of a survey
of producers' spring planting intentions, projected area seeded to durum
for harvest this year at 2,223,000 acres,
down 13% from 2,554,000 acres in 2009
and compared with 2,721,000 acres in
2008 and the recent five-year average of
2,412,000 acres.
The U.S.D.A. estimated March 1
stocks of durum at 55.6 million bus, up
72% from a year ago. The December
2009-February 2010 indicated disappearance of 20.1 million bus was up 65%
from the same period a year earlier. MBN

Bakers standard, Kansas City
Bulk, f.o.b. car, $ per cwt

No. 1 hard amber durum

Bulk, f.o.b. car, $ per cwt
April 1
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

additional basis. Millfeed values failed
to attract baker interest.
The Commodity Credit Corp. sought
offers on 240 tonnes (5,292 cwts) of allpurpose flour for donation to Afghanistan and on 1,380 tonnes (30,429 cwts)
of bread flour for donation to Chad with
shipment between May 1 and June 15.
The contracts will be awarded April 7.
Flour grind averaged four to five
days across most regions with individual mills ranging from three to even
seven days in one instance. The Northeast appeared lightest, averaging about
3½ days. MBN

13.65
13.55
12.50
5.80

Track, Minneapolis
- Change from - Year $ per bu
Mar. 26 Mar. 19 ago Choice milling 13%
cents per bu
-0.05
-0.50 17.05 Amber discount
-0.05
-0.50 16.95 Durum discount
-
- 13.00 Puffing premium
-
-
5.80

April 1
5.55
10.00
10@40
0

- Change from - Year
Mar. 26 Mar. 19 ago
-.05
-.05
8.25
-
-
-

-
-
-

10.00
10@40
0

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

Semolina

16.20
16.10
19.10
16.10
16.45
15.95
15.85
15.70

-0.30
-0.30
-0.30
-0.30
-0.30
-0.30
-0.30
-

-1.15
-1.15
-1.15
-1.15
-1.15
-1.15
-1.15
-0.15

18.85
18.75
21.75
18.75
19.10
18.60
18.50
17.90

Bulk, f.o.b. Minneapolis, $ per cwt
- Change from -
April 1
Mar. 26 Mar. 19
Semolina
14.25
-.15
-.25
Granulars
14.05
-.15
-.25
Flour
13.95
-.15
-.25
First clear
12.55
-
-
Second clear 11.00
-
-
Semolina - N.Y. 16.95
-.15
-.25

12.35
13.85

-0.25
-0.25

-0.80
-0.80

13.70
15.20

Nationally advertised family flour

16.05
18.35
21.35
15.85
18.20

-0.05
-0.30
-0.30
-0.25
-

-0.50
-1.10
-1.10
-0.80
-0.15

19.45
21.20
24.20
17.20
20.40

15.05
15.85

-0.05
-0.05

-0.50
-0.50

18.95
16.25

50 / April 6, 2010 Milling & Baking News

Year
ago
21.10
20.90
20.80
17.85
13.00
23.85

Cracker flour, Chicago
Bulk, f.o.b. car, $ per cwt

Dollars
April 1
Family patent, 2-25s papers 22.50
4-10s
18.25
8-5s
18.40
18-2s
21.76
Self-rising
+88c per bale

Year ago
22.50
18.24
18.40
21.76
+88c per bale

bakingbusiness.com / world-grain.com

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

Milling & Baking News - April 6, 2010

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