Portland Grain Review 12/20

December 20, 2018 Portland Price Trends 12-01-17 01-01-18 11-01-18 12-13-18 12-20-18 #1 SWW (bu) 5.22 5.32 6.22 6.25 6.25 White Club 5.27 5.32 6.22 6.25 6.25 DNS 14% 7.61 7.52 6.92 7.02 6.83 HRW 11.5% 5.72 5.60 6.51 6.70 6.59 #2 Corn (ton) 153.00 157.00 159.00 170.00 170.00 #2 Barley 125.00 128.00 140.00 140.00 140.00 Wheat...West coast white wheat markets saw strengthening basis levels hold cash bids steady for the week, while the hard red winter and spring wheat markets drifted against lower futures. Winter wheat regions of the Pacific Northwest were blanketed with good moisture this week. Weekly Sales...USDA reported export demand for U.S. wheat came in at about half the four-week average pace, setting back from two very strong weeks. Weekly sales of 11.5 mb puts year-to-date commitments at 613 mb, which is 12% below a year ago and 14% behind the five-year average. Soft white was top seller for the week with 4.3 mb and sales of 143 mb stand 8% behind a year ago but 16% ahead of average. Hard red spring sold 3.4 mb and now sets 4% ahead a year and 4% behind average. Hard red winter took a major setback from the prior two weeks. Sales of 2.3 mb put the total commitments at 184 mb; 33% behind a year ago and 28% below average. Top Buyers...Japan was the leading buyer last week with 2.6 mb, which was followed by both Ecuador and Taiwan 1.9 mb and Italy booking 1.8 mb. Nigeria rounded out the top five with 7.3 mb. -Norm Ruhoff Contributing Analyst Copyright 2018 DTN/Telvent. All Rights Reserved.