Milling & Baking News - February 19, 2013 - 50

Ingredient Week 

Bakery Flour
Bookings of bakery flour expanded
last week. Prices continued to decline.
Further declines in wheat futures
prices encouraged a number of bakers
to take a more assertive stance, at least
with regard to covering the futures component of prospective flour bookings for
various time frames. This activity completed some outstanding contracts for
March and for April-June and enabled
some bakers to take positions at least
with regard to futures for the third and
fourth quarters.
Some millers indicated they’ve seen
bakers cover basis and millfeed components for the summer, but others suggested most bakers were holding back
because of uncertainties over new crop
wheat prospects and spring planting.
One miller commented that bakers
were proceeding along different tracks
with regard to forward component coverage, and it was difficult to argue one
approach was better than another.
Spring grade users took additional
futures coverage and flat coverage of
needs for April-June. Individual bread
bakers took initial flour coverage into
July-September. Cookie-cracker and specialty bakers held more extensive contract balances than the bread bakers.
It was estimated that baker commitments to April-June flour contracts (involving both completed contracts and
partial coverage with some components
outstanding) accounted for about 65%
of the expected volume for the quarter.

Bakery ﬂour

Commitments to third-quarter contracts
accounted for about 20% of the trade’s
prospective requirements.
Mill grind last week was 4½ to five
days in the Southwest and Upper Midwest, five to six days in the Northeast,
5½ to six days in the Southeast and six
days on the West coast. MBN

Family Flour
Sales of national and regional brands
of family flour were seasonally sluggish.
Carlot list prices were unchanged.
Manufacturers indicated most business involved routine orders and shipments, which was typical for the date. At
the same time, some outlets in the Southeast featured offers of two 5-lb bags at $5
in the hope of coaxing some home bakers
to take to the kitchens in what otherwise
is a very quiet time of year in family flour.
In the market for private label flour,
most buyers earlier covered their needs
through old crop and held back from
extending contract balances beyond the
spring until new crop prospects become
more certain. MBN

Semolina
Bookings of semolina, granulars and
durum flour were limited last week.
Prices declined.
The price of choice milling hard amber
durum quoted as a delivered Chicago/
beyond value was $10 a bu, down 10c.
The Minneapolis price was $9.70 a bu.
Pasta manufacturers earlier covered
nearly 90% of their prospective semolina

needs through March, and coverage for
the second quarter of 2013 was estimated
at around 50%. Coverage beyond June
was light.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture field office in Arizona indicated
planting of the state’s durum crop was
“virtually complete” by Feb. 9. In its
Winter Wheat Seedings report issued
last month, U.S.D.A. forecast Arizona
producers would plant 80,000 acres of
durum for harvest this year, down 24%
from 105,000 acres in 2012. The other
desert durum state was California, and
U.S.D.A. estimated area planted to durum in that state for harvest this year
at 90,000 acres, down 36% from 140,000
acres last year.
Durum millers and pasta manufacturers hoped northern Plains producers
won’t follow suit and plant less durum
this year than in 2012. While durum
prices declined in recent weeks, spring
wheat prices dropped even further,
which raised hopes for increased durum
seedings. Also, North Dakota producers,
partly because of drought conditions
last fall, planted fewer acres to hard red
winter wheat for harvest this year than
was the case for 2012. It was hoped durum would pick off some of the previous
year’s hard winter wheat acres. MBN

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

$26.00
$23.00
$20.00

No. 1 hard amber durum

$17.00

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

Track, Minneapolis
— Change from — Year
— Change from — Year $ per bu
Feb. 15 Feb. 8 Feb. 1 ago
Feb. 15 Feb. 8
Feb. 1 ago Choice milling 13% 9.70
-.10
-.10
9.95
Kansas City
cents per bu
Bakers short patent
19.45
-0.35
-0.75 18.60 Amber discount
10.00
—
—
10.00
Bakers standard patent 19.35
-0.35
-0.75 18.50 Durum discount
10@40
—
— 10@40
Second clear
14.00
—
— 14.00 Pufﬁng premium
0
—
—
0
Third clear
…
...
...
…
Semolina
Minneapolis
Spring short patent
18.60
-0.60
-1.00 20.90 Bulk, f.o.b. Minneapolis, $ per cwt
— Change from — Year
Spring standard patent 18.50
-0.60
-1.00 20.80
Feb. 15
Feb. 8 Feb. 1
ago
High gluten
21.50
-0.60
-1.00 23.80
22.25
-.35
-.25
24.10
Whole wheat
18.50
-0.60
-1.00 20.80 Semolina
22.05
-.35
-.25
23.90
Specialty whole wheat 18.85
-0.60
-1.00 21.15 Granulars
21.95
-.35
-.25
23.80
Fancy spring clear
18.35
-0.60
-1.00 20.65 Flour
17.50
—
—
17.50
First spring clear
18.25
-0.60
-1.00 20.55 First clear
—
—
13.00
Rye, white
21.25
-0.15
— 20.55 Second clear 13.00
Semolina - N.Y. 24.95
-.35
-.25
26.80
Chicago
Cracker
16.45
-0.30
-0.40 15.85
Nationally advertised family ﬂour
Fancy cake
17.95
-0.30
-0.40 17.35
Dollars
New York
Feb. 15
Year ago
Winter/spring blend
21.85
-0.35
-0.75 21.00
Family patent, 2-25s papers 24.12
24.12
Spring standard patent 21.80
-0.60
-1.05 23.30
4-10s
n.a.
n.a.
High gluten
24.80
-0.60
-1.05 26.30
8-5s
18.52
18.62
Fancy cake
19.95
-0.30
-0.40 19.35
18-2s
20.64
20.64
Rye, white
23.75
-0.15
— 23.05
Self-rising
n.a.
n.a.
Los Angeles
Bakers standard patent 24.90
-0.35
-0.75 21.95
Pastry
24.35
-0.35
-0.75 21.95
50 / February 19, 2013 Milling & Baking News

$14.00
F

A
Previous Year

N
Current Year

Spring standard, Minneapolis
Bulk, f.o.b. car, $ per cwt
$33.00
$29.00
$25.00
$21.00
$17.00
$13.00
F

A
Previous Year

N
Current Year

Cracker ﬂour, Chicago
Bulk, f.o.b. car, $ per cwt
$22.00
$20.00
$18.00
$16.00
$14.00
$12.00
F

A
Previous Year

N
Current Year

bakingbusiness.com / world-grain.com

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

Milling & Baking News - February 19, 2013

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