Milling & Baking News - March 31, 2015 - 66

Ingredient Week

Wheat Futures
Wheat futures prices declined to near
two-week lows on Thursday but still
held above late-February and earlyMarch lows. Prices of Kansas City, Chicago and Minneapolis wheat rose to near
five-week highs last Monday before the
descent began. Prices posted a modest
recovery Friday, but still ended about
15@20c a bu lower for the week.
Recent price support had come mostly
from rare (and brief) weakness in the
value of the dollar, which remained historically strong and again firmed later
last week. Also supportive had been
weather concerns in U.S. winter wheat
areas and in other growing areas around
the globe. But weather prospects in other
parts of the world showed improvement
last week, more than offsetting concerns
about dryness in parts of the U.S. hard
red winter wheat region and wetness in
some soft red winter wheat areas.
The "kicker" came last Thursday when
the U.S. Department of Agriculture said
net export sales of U.S. wheat in the week
ended March 19 were 102,300 tonnes,
down 74% from the four-week average
and a marketing year low. Even with sales
for next year of 79,400 tonnes, the weekly
total was far below trade estimates of
300,000 to 700,000 tonnes. Futures prices

tumbled about 15@20c a bu after the export sales report. The strong dollar makes
U.S. wheat and other commodities less
competitive on world markets and the
United States has garnered minimal if
any shares of most foreign tenders recently, other than routine purchases from
regular buyers such as Japan. At the same
time, wheat exports from the European
Union were said to be at a record pace.
Hard red winter wheat condition
ratings mostly improved in the week
ended March 22, with the exception of
Kansas, where the crop was rated 41%
good to excellent, unchanged from a
week earlier. Good to excellent ratings
were 44% in Oklahoma (40% a week
earlier), 55% in Texas (51%) and 55% in
Colorado (49%). Dry conditions in Kansas worsened last week.
As the week ended, the market's attention turned to the March 31 U.S.D.A.
Prospective Plantings and Grain Stocks
reports, which will include farmers'
durum and other spring planting intentions, as well as intentions for corn, soybeans and other crops. MBN

Millfeed
Prices mostly finished steady to lower
last week, and any gains were minor in
most cases.

Market talk focused on nearby supply tightness, mostly steady demand
and prospects for significant mill downtime ahead. Demand was expected to
ease in the second quarter. In the Southwest, where prices declined last week,
greening pastures were replacing some
needs for manufactured feed, especially
in Texas.
Flour grind, averaging about 5½ days,
was a preoccupation, with many market
participants wondering when output
would begin to pick up. Most attention
was directed to the holiday-shortened
week when markets will be closed for
Good Friday.
"A lot of mills won't run over Easter,"
said an industry veteran. Mills were
mostly choosing to close from one to
three days - and some longer - and using the downtime to fumigate or perform
scheduled maintenance. A large mill in
the Southwest planned to be closed from
Good Friday through Tuesday.
Millfeed was $115 a ton in Kansas City
and $109 in Minneapolis, on a rail basis,
compared with corn at $135 a ton and
sorghum at $140 a ton, both K.C. Corn
gluten feed was up $5 at $160 a ton, distillers' dried grain was down $3 at $195
a ton, and dehydrated alfalfa was steady
at $260 a ton, all K.C. MBN

Wheat futures

Kansas City wheat futures
May contract, $ per bu

$ per bu; change in cents per bu

Kansas City
May
July
September
December
Chicago
May
July
September
December
Minneapolis
May
July
September
December

$9.00

Season's
Low

- Change from -
Mar. 20 Mar. 13

Week's
High
Low

Year
ago

High

5.53
5.57¾
5.68¾
5.84

-16½c +13¾c
-17¼c
+14c
-17½c +13½c
-16½c +12½c

5.79¼
5.84½
5.95
6.08¼

5.41½
5.47¼
5.58½
5.74

7.63½
7.63¾
7.66¾
7.75½

8.50
8.20
8.15
8.24¼

(05-06-14)
(05-09-14)
(05-09-14)
(05-09-14)

5.16¼
5.22¾
5.35½
5.52

(03-05-15)
(03-06-15)
(03-06-15)
(03-06-15)

5.07¾
5.12
5.21
5.35

-22¼c
-21¾c
-21¾c
-21c

+5¾c
+8¾c
+8½c
+9c

5.40½
5.43¾
5.51¼
5.65

4.98¼
5.03½
5.13
5.27½

6.95½
6.99¼
7.06¾
7.16¼

7.94¾
7.79¾
7.63
7.72

(05-09-13)
(06-03-13)
(05-07-14)
(05-09-14)

4.78¼
4.84½
4.93½
5.09¼

(03-06-15)
(03-06-15)
(03-06-15)
(03-06-15)

5.75
5.80¼
5.87¼
5.97¼

-14½c
-13½c
-14¼c
-14½c

+7½c
+7¾c
+7c
+7c

5.98
6.03
6.10
6.20

5.62
5.68
5.75½
5.87¾

7.39¾
7.39
7.42¼
7.50¼

8.34½
8.30
7.90
7.99

(05-06-14)
(05-06-14)
(05-13-14)
(05-09-14)

5.48¾
5.55¾
5.62¾
5.75

(02-26-15)
(02-26-15)
(02-26-15)
(02-26-15)

Mar. 27

$8.00
$7.00
$6.00
$5.00
M

J

S
Previous Year

D
Current Year

Chicago wheat futures
May contract, $ per bu

$9.00
$8.00
$7.00
$6.00

Bulk middlings

$5.00

$ per ton, delivered rail unless noted
Spot
Kansas City
115 @ 125
Southwest, f.o.b. truck
145 @ 155
Minneapolis
109 @ 119
Upper Midwest, f.o.b. truck105 @ 115
Chicago West
122 @ 132
Central states, f.o.b truck 126 @ 136
Buﬀalo
105 @ 115
Southeast
125 @ 135
N. & S. California
159 @ 174
Los Angeles, f.o.b. truck 155 @ 170
Paciﬁc Northwest
130 @ 145
Upper Midwest, sacked
325
Wheat germ
250 @ 280
66 / March 31, 2015

Apr.
100@ 110
130@ 140
107@ 117
103@ 113
120@ 130
107@ 117
105@ 115
105@ 115
157@ 172
153@ 168
130@ 145

Milling & Baking News

- Change from -
Mar. 20 Mar. 13
-20@ -20 -15@ -15
-15@ -15 -15@ -15
-2@ -2
-
-2@ -2
-
-2@ -2
-
-13@ -13 -8@ -8
-5@ -5 +1@ +1
-10@ -10 -5@ -5
-12@ -12 -17@ -17
-12@ -12 -17@ -17
-
-

Year
ago
126@ 136
151@ 161
136@ 146
132@ 142
149@ 159
136@ 146
102@ 110
125@ 135
199@ 214
195@ 210
140@ 155

$4.00

Apr.-June
93@ 103
123@ 133
104@ 114
100@ 110
117@ 127
93@ 103
87@ 97
100@ 110
154@ 169
150@ 165
130@ 145

July-Sep.
93@ 103
123@ 133
107@ 117
103@ 113
120@ 130
88@ 98
80@ 90
100@ 110
149@ 164
145@ 160
130@ 145

Oct.-Dec.
110@ 120
140@ 150
109@ 119
105@ 115
122@ 132
95@ 105
95@ 105
105@ 115
164@ 179
160@ 175
130@ 145

M

J

S
Previous Year

D
Current Year

Minneapolis wheat futures
May contract, $ per bu
$9.00
$8.00
$7.00
$6.00
$5.00
M

J

S
Previous Year

D
Current Year

bakingbusiness.com / world-grain.com
http://www.bakingbusiness.com http://www.world-grain.com
Milling & Baking News - March 31, 2015

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