Portland Grain Review 05/20

May 20, 2016 Portland Price Trends 05-01-15 08-01-15 04-01-16 05-13-16 05-20-16 #1 SWW (bu) 6.20 5.67 5.14 5.48 5.26 White Club 7.70 6.42 5.34 5.68 5.46 DNS 14% 7.33 6.19 6.24 6.35 6.27 HRW 11.5% 6.07 5.60 5.52 5.41 5.34 #2 Corn (ton) 153.00 160.00 153.00 167.00 165.00 #2 Barley 140.00 159.00 140.00 145.00 145.00 Wheat...Early-week strength that saw west coast white wheat prices hit the highest levels in five months quickly dissipated throught the week as the futures complex faded. Nearby basis levels also weakened, closing the week more than a dime off last week's high at 59 over Chicago July. Japan was a buyer this week, securing a total of 4.4 mb that included 2.5 mb of US wheat, 1 mb of Canadian springs and 900,000 bushels of standard white wheat from Australia. Intermittent showers and seasonal temps are helping maintain near ideal conditions for Pacific Northwest wheat crops. Weekly Sales...USDA reported 6.4 mb in old crop wheat sales last week, putting year-to-date sales at 757 mb and 29% behind the five-year average with two weeks left in the marketing year. Hard red spring was top seller with 3.7 mb, highlighted by a 3.2 mb sale to China. New crop selling was the bigger story over the past week, with a solid 21 mb booked across all classes. Top seller was hard red winter, accounting for over half of the new crop total. Hard red winter sales for the coming year now stand 18% ahead of last year at 39 mb. Hard red spring wheat sales are outpacing a year ago by 80% with 45 mb in commitments. Soft white wheat is also 24% ahead of a year ago, while soft red winter stands at less than half of a year ago. Overall US new crop sales are running 10% ahead of a year ago. -Norm Ruhoff Extension Economist University of Idaho CALS-AERS Copyright 2016 DTN/Telvent. All Rights Reserved.