FOB Gulf wheat, soyabean premiums firm

Export premiums for soft red winter wheat at the US Gulf Coast were steady to firm on Thursday, supported by strong demand and tight old-crop supplies in the export pipeline, traders said. Egypt's GASC bought 115,000 tonnes of US SRW wheat via a tender on Thursday for May 21-31 shipment. One cargo was for Gulf shipment, one for East Coast.
SRW supplies in the export pipeline were tight so Gulf exporters bid aggressively in the CIF market for old-crop grain to fill foreign demand, including talk of sales to Spain under the tariff-rate quota system, traders said. Nearby CIF SRW barges traded as high as 70 cents a bushel over CBOT May futures, up about 10 cents this week, traders said.
Export premiums for hard red winter wheat declined amid slow export demand ahead of an expected large new-crop harvest.
US HRW may have difficulty trading to Iraq in its latest tender that closes on April 15. Canadian wheat likely to be offered aggressively in the tender, seen as among the last Iraqi tenders before the Canadian Wheat Board loses its marketing monopoly later this year.
Private exporters sold 138,900 tonnes of US wheat to unknown destinations for 2012/13 marketing year delivery, USDA said. Traders said the sales were to Guatemala, El Salvador and Panama. Taiwan Flour Millers' Association bought 41,650 tonnes of US milling wheat in a tender.
Soyabean export premiums at the US Gulf Coast were firm, rising in tandem with the higher CIF barge market, amid strong demand prospects due to a drought-shortened South American crop. China bought one US Gulf soyabean cargo for September shipment on Thursday and several Brazilian cargoes for spring 2013 shipment, traders said. Taiwan's BSPA-K bought 60,000 tonnes of Brazilian soyabeans for May shipment.
A grain ship that grounded on a river near Rosario port in Argentina and delayed passage of at least 85 ships was dislodged on Thursday. US Gulf corn export premiums held steady, underpinned by moderate demand and tight old-crop supplies, traders said. Export sales of US corn rose to a 5-1/2-month high last week as prices fell to two-month lows, weekly USDA data showed. The tally included 394,000 tonnes to China, the most to that country since October. US markets closed April 6 for the Good Friday holiday.