Portland Grain Review 05/16

May 16, 2017 Portland Price Trends 05-01-16 08-01-16 04-01-17 05-09-17 05-16-17 #1 SWW (bu) 5.33 4.95 4.82 4.80 4.85 White Club 5.53 4.95 4.97 4.95 5.00 DNS 14% 6.21 6.03 6.66 6.66 6.65 HRW 11.5% 5.31 5.10 4.94 5.09 4.93 #2 Corn (ton) 167.00 158.00 160.00 157.00 157.00 #2 Barley 145.00 135.00 120.00 125.00 125.00 Wheat...Firming basis levels continue to help prop-up west coast soft white wheat prices, as limited farm offerings and another Japanese tender this week have exporters pushing bids. White wheat markets have remained relatively rangebound, with selling interest waning below the $4.80 level and finding some liquidity at $4.90. Shipments...Weekly export inspection showed another solid late-season week of U.S. wheat loadings, with white wheat showing an especially large slate for the week. Total shipments came in above 25 mb, topped by 9.2 mb of hard red winter and 7.6 mb of hard red spring. West coast exporters are finally catching up with an extended backlog of white wheat loadings, shipping 7.1 mb off the PNW; the best weekly total of the marketing year. Top destination was China with 4.7 mb, followed by Thailand with 3 mb and Japan took 2.7 mb. Yemen accounted for nearly 2 mb of the weekly total. Crop Progress...USDA is showing continued recovery in the Idaho winter wheat, while Oregon conditions excel and Washington trends sideways. As a result, the three-state winter wheat index showed a marked improvement over the past week, moving up 1% to 105% of average. Good to excellent ratings for Idaho jumped 13% to 74%, Oregon gained 8 points to 93% while Washington dropped 2% to 81%. Late planting woes for spring wheat remain for the Pacific Northwest; Idaho stands 26% behind average with 71% of the crop in and Washington lags the average by 16% at 81% planted. -Norm Ruhoff Contributing Analyst Copyright 2017 DTN/Telvent. All Rights Reserved.