US hard red winter wheat spot basis bids held steady Friday, with farmer selling drying up in the face of sharp declines in futures prices, merchants said. Offers out of the country stayed strong as elevators looked to make room for fall crops, merchants said.
"I had some big offers the last few days," said one Kansas mill merchant. "There is still a lot in the country that needs to be moved." Protein premiums for railcar wheat to and through Kansas City dropped 2 cents a bushel for ordinary wheat and a nickel a bushel for 11.00 through 11.40 percent protein supplies, while sliding 3 cents a bushel for 14-pro wheat.
Futures prices at the Kansas City Board of Trade continued to show volatility, posting a double-digit slide on Thursday. Benchmark September closed down 23-3/4 cents at $4.93-1/2 per bushel Thursday and December dropped 24-1/2 cents to $5.06-1/4.
Further losses were expected Friday with beneficial rains in the US Northern Plains spring wheat-growing region weighing on the market.
The declines Thursday came amid talk that US millers may have imported a large amount of cheap Canadian wheat because the weather drove US wheat prices higher of late.
In export news, one group of South Korean flour millers bought 22,500 tonnes of US No 1 wheat from Columbia Grain International Inc, traders said Friday. Shipment was set for between August 15 and September 15. Another group bought 21,100 tonnes of US No 1 wheat also from Columbia Grain for shipment between September 5 and October. 5.