US Plains hard red winter wheat basis bids were holding steady on Tuesday, with many merchants continuing to work to keep wheat flowing to the Gulf where export demand stayed strong. Protein premiums for railcar wheat to and through Kansas City were steady to 3 cents higher. Rail delays persisted.
Meanwhile, country wheat movement was sporadic. "The only thing that is moving right now is stuff at elevators that need to handle fall crops and they desperately need to move that wheat out," said one Oklahoma wheat dealer. Kansas City Board of Trade HRW wheat futures set back on Monday but were expected to move higher Tuesday.
The KCBT September ended down 1-3/4 cents at $6.81 and December ended down 3/4 cent on Monday. News that Egypt bought 85,000 tonnes of Russian wheat and no US wheat should limit gains, traders said. But the draw-down in world supplies was supportive.
Also, Jordan's state grains buyers purchased 100,000 tonnes of Russian-origin hard wheat in a tender that closed on Tuesday. Helping offset the competitive pressure was market chatter that Russia will restrict wheat exports after October.
Also, India plans to float wheat import tenders at regular intervals for the rest of the year, Farm Minister Sharad Pawar said on Tuesday. Pawar said domestic wheat production had been very good this year and the government was not worried about availability but was interested in having "large buffer stocks."