US Plains hard red winter wheat basis bids were steady to firmer on Thursday, with tight supplies in the country underpinning the market, merchants said. The Gulf track market basis jumped 4 cents a bushel to 80 cents over the Kansas City Board of Trade May wheat contract. Other locations were unchanged.
Protein premiums for rail car wheat to and through Kansas City were 1 cent to 2 cents higher for high-protein supplies. The outlook for the 2007 crop continued to look good, with more beneficial rainfall overnight through the Plains.
On the export front, USDA reported Thursday that weekly export sales of US wheat totalled 528,400 tonnes, 11 percent above the previous week and 27 percent over the prior four-week average.
But a group of South Korea flour millers passed on a tender to buy 23,700 tonnes of US No 1 wheat due to the price, traders said on Thursday. Futures prices at the Kansas City Board of Trade ended mixed on Wednesday and more mixed trade was expected Thursday as the market awaited Friday's USDA seeding and stocks data.
The government planting report will be the first of the year based on surveys of farmers gearing up for spring seeding of corn, and many industry analysts expected significant increases in planted acreage.