Portland Grain Review 03/28

March 28, 2024 Portland Price Trends 03-01-23 08-01-23 02-01-24 03-21-24 03-28-24 #1 SWW (bu) 8.10 7.05 6.40 5.55 5.80 White Club 8.10 7.30 6.90 5.55 5.80 DNS 14% 9.48 9.05 7.81 7.46 7.44 HRW 11.5% 9.56 8.24 6.81 6.48 6.61 #2 Corn (ton) 278.00 254.00 226.00 223.00 227.00 #2 Barley 250.00 210.00 180.00 160.00 155.00 Wheat..Confirmation of improved export demand and a post-report surge across the futures complex brought some life back into west coast wheat prices on Thursday. White wheat in particular found some footing on the revelation of nearly 10 mb in old and new crop sales to South Korea that were booked last week. PNW all wheat plantings showed Idaho and Oregon each expected to plant 3% more acres, with Washington down 4% to put the the 3-state total down a half-percent from last year. Weekly Sales...USDA revealed U.S. wheat finally attracted some buying interest last week, with more than 20 million bushels in new commitments in old and new crop positions. Old crop sales of 12.5 mb places the year- to-date sales at 688 mb, which is 4% ahead of a year ago but 16% behind the five-year average pace. Hard red winter recorded the best level of sales since early December with 4.7 mb, putting sales at 133 mb which is 26% behind a year ago and 53$ below average. White wheat also registered 4.7 mb in old crop bookings and with commitments of 146 mb, sets 11% off the tally at this time last year and 19% below average. Total new crop sales of 7.8 mb put commitments for next year at 37.3 mb, which is 44% ahead of a year ago at this time. Top Buyers...South Korea was the top buyer for both old and new crop wheat positions last week with 7.4 mb, followed by Taiwan with 3.6 mb, and Japan securing 2.6 mb. The majority of South Korea's purchases were for U.S. white wheat. -Norm Ruhoff Contributing Analyst Copyright 2024 DTN/Telvent. All Rights Reserved.