Wheat export premiums at the US Gulf Coast edged higher on Friday, even as demand for high-priced US grain remained muted, traders said. Weakness in the US dollar made US grain more attractive to foreign buyers, as the dollar fell under pressure from the Federal Reserve's aggressive new economic stimulus program. Yet, wheat prices remain too high to be competitive against lower-cost grain available from other origins like the Black Sea region.
December wheat futures at the Chicago Board of Trade jumped to a five-week high. Tunisia's state grains agency purchased 50,000 tonnes of durum wheat in a tender that closed on Friday, European traders said. The origin was optional. Egypt's GASC on Thursday bought 235,000 tonnes of Russian, French and Ukrainian wheat for November 21-30 shipment. US wheat, including freight, was at least $35.50 per tonne above the winning bids.
Traders continued watching unrest in the Middle East and North Africa, as turmoil in the region in early 2011 made it difficult at times for buyers to secure letters of credit for shipments. At least three people died and 28 others were wounded on Friday when police fought hundreds of protesters who ransacked the US embassy in Tunisia in their fury over a film denigrating the Prophet Mohammad, state television said.
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