Portland Grain Review 03/22

March 22, 2018 Portland Price Trends 03-01-17 08-01-17 02-01-18 03-15-18 03-22-18 #1 SWW (bu) 4.90 5.20 5.42 5.70 5.65 White Club 5.05 5.30 5.42 5.70 5.65 DNS 14% 6.96 8.38 7.41 7.55 7.30 HRW 11.5% 5.52 5.65 6.17 6.53 6.09 #2 Corn (ton) 175.00 148.00 161.00 177.00 178.00 #2 Barley 158.00 125.00 140.00 150.00 152.00 Wheat..With the exception of white wheat, which saw a strengthening of basis against Chicago, west coast wheat prices drifted lower with declines across the respective futures. White wheat basis firmed by more than 45 cents over the past two weeks, pushing the upper bounds of the high this year and setting well above average. Recent demand and a tighter balance sheet for U.S. white wheat remain supportive. Weekly Sales...USDA weekly export sales showed the recent rally in U.S. wheat prices effectively stymied global buying interest, as sales slipped to the low end of the weekly range for the marketing year. Total sales of 6 mb put year-to-date wheat export commitments at 815 mb, which stands 13% below a year ago and 8% under the five-year average pace. Top seller was hard red spring with 2.2 mb, putting sales at 212 mb; 27% behind last year and 14% below average. Soft white garnered 1.5 mb to put the current year total at 182 mb; 12% ahead of last year and 21% ahead of average. Sales of hard red winter were only 300,000 bushels which puts current year exports at 321 mb, which is 15% below a year ago but 2% ahead of average. Mexico and China were top buyers with 1.3 mb each. -Norm Ruhoff Contributing Analyst Copyright 2018 DTN/Telvent. All Rights Reserved.