Portland Grain Review 05/12

May 12, 2016 Portland Price Trends 05-01-15 08-01-15 04-01-16 05-05-16 05-12-16 #1 SWW (bu) 6.20 5.67 5.14 5.25 5.40 White Club 7.70 6.42 5.34 5.45 5.60 DNS 14% 7.33 6.19 6.24 6.17 6.30 HRW 11.5% 6.07 5.60 5.52 5.28 5.35 #2 Corn (ton) 153.00 160.00 153.00 161.00 145.00 #2 Barley 140.00 159.00 140.00 145.00 166.00 Wheat...Weekly export sales helped confirm the strength in white wheat basis over the past week, with 2 mb in old crop demand reported for Yemen. New crop buying for both soft white and hard red spring also continues to outpace year-ago levels. Nearby basis levels for white wheat have firmed- up by 30 cents over the past two weeks, hard red spring basis Minneapolis has climbed 15 cents and hard red winter has strengthened a dime. Farmer offerings remain limited since the late April spike in price levels, and exporters are pushing basis to attract some movement. Weekly Sales...USDA reported another decent week of late-season export demand for US wheat, with nearly 11 mb in old crop sales being booked. Top seller for the week was hard red winter at 4 mb, placing total demand this year at 217 mb and 13 mb short of projections. Hard red spring registered 3.6 mb and stands 2 mb under projected sales, and white wheat recorded 2.6 mb of old crop business and also sets 2 mb shy of marketing year estimates. Top buyer last week was unknown with 5 mb, followed by Yemen with a 2 mb white wheat purchase. New crop sales came in at 14 mb, putting total sales for the coming year at 108 mb compared to 112 mb a year ago. Red spring new crop sales are running 65% ahead of a year ago, and white wheat is up 10% versus last year. New crop hard red winter sales are 5% below a year ago and soft red winter sales are less than half last year at this time. -Norm Ruhoff Extension Economist University of Idaho CALS-AERS Copyright 2016 DTN/Telvent. All Rights Reserved.