US Plains hard red winter wheat spot basis bids were steady on Thursday as farmer selling remained slow, wheat merchants said. The harvest neared completion in key producing states, but farmers have not sold much of their freshly cut wheat on the spot market in part because of the high "carry" in the market which offered more money for deferred sales, they said.
Expectations for better prices and ample space in storage bins also kept country movement muted, they said. "Because of the short crop and plenty of (storage) room in the country and the carry in the market, cash movement's slow for a harvest period," said one Kansas wheat merchant.
Harvest was largely completed in Texas, Oklahoma and much of Kansas, but recent rain slowed progress in Nebraska and northern sections of Kansas, merchants said.
Yields were highly variable and generally shorter than a year ago, but the heat stress from this year's drought has resulted in high protein levels, they said.
On the export front, the USDA on Thursday reported net export sales of US wheat last week at 542,200 tonnes, up 72 percent from the previous week and above trade estimates of 350,000 to 450,000 tonnes.
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