Portland Grain Review 03/23
23 Mar 2017
March 23, 2017 Portland Price Trends 03-01-16 08-01-16 02-01-17 03-16-17 03-23-17 #1 SWW (bu) 4.90 4.95 4.68 4.82 4.82 White Club 5.20 4.95 4.83 4.97 4.97 DNS 14% 5.95 6.03 6.91 6.83 6.76 HRW 11.5% 5.34 5.10 5.19 5.20 5.03 #2 Corn (ton) 153.00 158.00 169.00 157.00 154.00 #2 Barley 145.00 135.00 115.00 120.00 120.00 Wheat...Firming basis levels on white wheat helped offset declines in Chicago futures this week, while hard red winter and spring wheat prices drifted lower against respective declines on the board. Delayed opening of the upper river barge system from an extended maintenance closure has exporters pushing for nearby white wheat shipments. Weekly Sales...USDA reported an improved week of demand for U.S. wheat, coming in above the four-week average at 15.4 mb. Year-to-date demand now stands at 947 mb which is 36% ahead of a year ago and 6% above the 5-year average pace.The majority of interest was in hard red winter, registering 9.2 mb for the week to put year-to-date commitments at 387 mb; 96% ahead of a year ago and 25% above average. Hard red spring wheat tallied 2.9 mb for the week to place total sales at 296 mb, standing 28% ahead of a year ago and 24% above average. Soft white demand came in below 1 mb for the second straight week with sales of 163 mb setting 21% above last year and 1% over the average pace. Soft red winter saw a relatively good week of demand with 2.6 mb booked. Top Buyers...Japan and Algeria were both top buyers for the week with 4.5 mb. Mexico booked a total of 2.5 mb of soft red winter, while China and Saudi Arabia bolstered hard red winter numbers, booking 2.4 and 2.2 mb respectively. -Norm Ruhoff Contributing Analyst Copyright 2017 DTN/Telvent. All Rights Reserved.