US Plains hard red winter wheat basis bids were steady to mixed Wednesday, with more movement of spot rail cars noted. The market for ordinary and low-protein wheat supplies was softening, dealers reported. Protein premiums for railcar wheat to and through Kansas City were mostly steady, though ordinary wheat saw a 15-cent drop.
Both Gulf and domestic interest in ordinary wheat was low, dealers said. Wheat futures at the Kansas City Board of Trade rallied Tuesday, ending with the active March contract up 16 cents at $9.14-1/2 per bushel. Overnight electronic trading action saw prices drop for December and March wheat, and the market was expected to see losses of 1 to 2 cents in the pit Wednesday, traders said.
Still, the market remained underpinned by concerns that dry weather was stressing the new US HRW wheat crop. On the export front, the Egyptian government's main wheat buyer bought 60,000 tonnes of Russian wheat on Wednesday at $337.49 a tonne FOB, for shipment between December 25 and January 10, according to el-Hefny, vice chairman of the General Authority for Supply Commodities (GASC).