MarketsFarm — Wheat bids in Western Canada were mostly lower for the week ended Friday. Losses were observed in Canada Western Red Spring Wheat (CWRS) and Canada Prairie Spring Red (CPSR), with durum (CWAD) slightly higher.
Average CWRS (13.5 per cent protein) wheat prices were down by about 50 cents to $1 per tonne, according to price quotes from a cross-section of delivery points compiled by PDQ (Price and Data Quotes). Average prices ranged from about $227 per tonne in southeastern Saskatchewan to as high as $246 per tonne in southern Alberta.
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Quoted basis levels varied from location to location and ranged from $22 to $42 per tonne above the futures when using the grain company methodology of quoting the basis as the difference between U.S. dollar-denominated futures and Canadian dollar cash bids.
When accounting for currency exchange rates by adjusting Canadian prices to U.S. dollars. CWRS bids ranged from US$174 to US$189 per tonne. That would put the currency-adjusted basis levels at about US$16-$30 below the futures.
Looking at it the other way around, if the Minneapolis futures are converted to Canadian dollars, CWRS basis levels across Western Canada range from $12 to $23 below the futures.
Wheat bids for CPSR were down by $2-$3 per tonne. Prices ranged from $199 per tonne in southeastern Saskatchewan to $222 per tonne in southern Alberta.
Average durum prices were higher, with bids ranging from $268 per tonne in southwestern Saskatchewan to $283 per tonne in southern Alberta.
The March spring wheat contract in Minneapolis, off of which most CWRS contracts in Canada are based, was quoted Thursday at US$5.5025 per bushel, down 1.75 U.S. cents from the previous week.
Kansas City hard red winter wheat futures, traded in Chicago, are more closely linked to CPSR in Canada. The March K.C. wheat contract was quoted Thursday at US$4.8475 per bushel, down five U.S. cents from the previous week.
The March Chicago Board of Trade soft wheat contract settled at US$5.6525 per bushel on Thursday, up three cents on the week.
The Canadian dollar closed Thursday at 76.66 U.S. cents, an increase of a fifth of a cent from the previous week.
— Marlo Glass reports for MarketsFarm, a Glacier FarmMedia division specializing in grain and commodity market analysis and reporting.
