Milling & Baking News - October 4, 2011 - 38

Ingredient Week 

Bakery Flour
Several bakers booked ﬂour to ﬁll gaps in October-December coverage last week. Scattered ﬂat booking took place into January-March and even occasional contracting further forward was indicated. Prices ﬁrmed early in the week, but buckled at midweek and again at week’s end as wheat futures fell. Sharply lower millfeed values and strong hard winter wheat basis pushed hard winter and its blends higher, but other grades were lower for the week. Most of the week’s bookings involved buyers of all grades adding to OctoberDecember coverage. By the week’s end, it was estimated about 75% of ﬂour needs for the quarter was on the books. When component coverage was taken into consideration, baker commitments for fourth-quarter coverage were even higher. First-quarter 2012 ﬂour coverage was estimated at 25% to 30%. Individual spring grade users extended contract balances into January-March. Menu-driven bakers, who traditionally seek to put on ample forward coverage if prices ﬁt into budgets, took some deferred coverage. Some of these bakers also took futures coverage through June or even September 2012 while holding oﬀ on covering basis or millfeed components required to complete contracts. Futures coverage through May 2012 across all grades was added Friday as prices sank. Some basis coverage was taken for October-December, but the wide carry in the cash wheat market kept most bakers on the sidelines. Millfeed didn’t

attract much activity, especially as values declined, with several bakers having covered that component earlier at least through the fourth quarter. Flour grind remained strong at around six days in most regions. MBN

Family Flour
Sales of national and regional brands of family ﬂour were seasonally active. Carlot list prices were unchanged. Orders for the home baking season continued to escalate as grocers sought to build inventories adequate to ensure shelves were well stocked for the holiday baking season. While the high price of wheat suggested trade activation programs won’t be aggressive this year, it was expected promotions at two 5-lb bags for $5 or even $4 might be put into eﬀect in several regions. Manufacturers’ packaging lines were running hard to keep up with orders. MBN

Semolina
Bookings of semolina, granulars and durum ﬂour were limited last week. Prices were higher. Most pasta manufacturers earlier covered most if not all of their semolina needs through December. There were some small bookings for the ﬁrst quarter of 2012 completed last week. One miller estimated January-March semolina coverage at around 25% or 30%. The price of choice milling hard amber durum quoted as a delivered Chicago/beyond value was $14.80 a bu, up 5c from

the previous week. The Minneapolis price was $14.50. Some bids were higher and approached $15 a bu. Oﬀers may be higher still. The Canadian Wheat Board continued to oﬀer milling durum held in storage in Thunder Bay, Ont., at the equivalent of $15.25 a bu. Farmer selling in the Upper Midwest remained light with most of the new crop durum going into storage. Durum moving through marketing channels remained predominantly old crop supply. Mills were apprehensive about what quality they’ll see in the 2011 crop once it moves in greater volume. U.S. Department of Agriculture state ﬁeld oﬃces indicated the North Dakota durum harvest was 92% completed by Sept. 25 compared with 82% a week earlier and 90% as the recent ﬁve-year average for the date. The Montana harvest was 76% completed compared with 74% a week earlier and 86% as the average progress for the date. The U.S.D.A. in its Small Grains Summary estimated 2011 U.S. durum outturn at 51,889,000 bus, down 9% from its August estimate and down 51% from 106,080,000 bus in 2010. Durum average yield was estimated at 39.3 bus an acre, down 3.1 bus from August and down 2.8 bus from 42.1 bus an acre in 2010. MBN

Bakers standard, Kansas City
Bulk, f.o.b. car, $ per cwt
$26.00 $23.00 $20.00 $17.00 $14.00 $11.00 O J A Previous Year J Current 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 Sept. 30 Sept. 23 Sept. 16 ago 17.50 17.40 12.50 5.80 19.40 19.30 22.30 19.30 19.65 19.15 19.05 21.00 13.55 15.05 19.90 22.50 25.50 17.05 23.50 23.25 22.60 0.20 0.20 — — -0.50 -0.50 -0.50 -0.50 -0.50 -0.50 -0.50 0.25 -0.20 -0.20 0.20 -0.30 -0.30 -0.20 0.25 0.05 -0.20 -0.65 -0.65 — — -0.50 -0.50 -0.50 -0.50 -0.50 -0.50 -0.50 0.25 -1.30 -1.30 -0.65 -0.30 -0.30 -1.30 0.25 -0.80 -1.05

No. 1 hard amber durum
Track, Minneapolis — Change from — Year $ per bu Sept. 30 Sept. 23 Sept. 16 ago Choice milling 13% 14.50 +.05 +.20 8.70 cents per bu 15.50 Amber discount 10.00 — — 10.00 15.40 Durum discount 10@40 — — 10@40 12.50 Pufﬁng premium 0 — — 0 5.80

Spring standard, Minneapolis
Bulk, f.o.b. car, $ per cwt
$33.00 $29.00 $25.00 $21.00 $17.00 $13.00 O J A Previous Year J Current Year

Semolina

16.55 16.45 19.45 16.45 16.80 16.30 16.20 13.90 15.10 16.60 17.90 18.95 21.95 18.60 16.40 18.70 18.65

Bulk, f.o.b. Minneapolis, $ per cwt — Change from — Sept. 30 Sept. 23 Sept. 16 Semolina 34.50 +.30 +.65 Granulars 34.30 +.30 +.65 Flour 34.20 +.30 +.65 First clear 17.85 — — Second clear 12.50 — — Semolina - N.Y. 37.20 +.30 +.65

Year ago 21.15 20.95 20.85 12.55 10.50 23.85

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

Nationally advertised family ﬂour
Dollars Sept. 30 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

38 / October 4, 2011 Milling & Baking News

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Milling & Baking News - October 4, 2011

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