Wheat export premiums hold steady at US Gulf Coast

Wheat export premiums at the US Gulf Coast held steady on Thursday, despite a nearly-three-percent spike in futures prices, as signs of thinning Black Sea supplies underpinned US export prospects, traders said. Egypt's GASC bought 475,000 tonnes of Black Sea wheat via a tender on Thursday for shipment in late October to early November.
Higher Russian prices and fewer offers for November shipment indicated that supplies were thinning, opening the door for EU and US wheat sales in upcoming tenders. Drought-hit Russia could import an unusually large volume, 2.5 million tonnes, of Kazakh wheat in the current crop year, a leading Russian grain analyst said on Thursday. Ukraine may limit wheat exports in early 2013 in a bid to prevent a jump in domestic grain prices. Iraq tendered to buy at least 50,000 tonnes any origin wheat. Traders said US hard wheat at the moment was not very competitive on the world market.
Corn export premiums at the Gulf were flat to lower, weighed down by weak demand and a glut of supply at the Gulf, traders said. Spot CIF corn basis values at the Gulf were at the lowest in nearly three years as new-crop corn was piling up at export terminals that have not yet fully recovered from last week's hurricane.
Some regular importers continue to buy US corn, but most are exploring other avenues for feed grain, including feed wheat and cheaper corn from South America or the Black Sea region. Private exporters sold 217,424 tonnes US corn to unknown destinations, 184,912 tonnes of it for delivery in 2012/13 and 32,512 tonnes for 2013/14, USDA said Thursday. Traders said the unknown buyer was likely No 2 importer Mexico.
Top corn importer Japan bought 180,000 tonnes for 2013/14 earlier this week. Nearby shipments of Brazilian corn offered at prices more than $40 per tonne below US Gulf prices on an FOB basis. Supplies of Brazilian corn could continue to challenge US grain through the end of 2012, traders said. Brazil's government forecast the country's corn exports in 2011/12 at 16 million tonnes, up from its 14-million-tonne estimate from August. Latest USDA forecast pegged exports at 14 million tonnes.