CNS Canada — Wheat bids in Western Canada were mostly down for the week ended Friday with a weaker Canadian dollar and falling U.S. futures.
Average Canada Western Red Spring (CWRS, 13.5 per cent protein) wheat prices were down $1-$7, according to price quotes from a cross-section of delivery points compiled by PDQ (Price and Data Quotes). Average prices ranged from about $249 per tonne in western Manitoba to as high as $272 in southern Alberta.
Quoted basis levels varied from location to location and ranged from $45 to $68 per tonne above the futures when using the grain company methodology of quoting the basis as the difference between U.S. dollar-denominated futures and Canadian dollar cash bids.
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When accounting for currency exchange rates by adjusting Canadian prices to U.S. dollars, CWRS bids ranged from US$183 to US$199 per tonne. That would put the currency-adjusted basis levels at about US$5-$21 below the futures.
Looking at it the other way around, if the Minneapolis futures are converted to Canadian dollars, CWRS basis levels across Western Canada range from $6 to $29 below the futures.
Canada Prairie Spring Red (CPSR) wheat bids were mostly weaker, decreasing by less than a dollar to $10 per tonne in most locations, except for southern Alberta which was up almost $1. Prices ranged from $224 in southeastern Saskatchewan to $248 per tonne in southern Alberta.
Average durum prices were slightly higher, with bids ranging anywhere from $220 in northwestern Saskatchewan to $235 in western Manitoba.
The March spring wheat contract in Minneapolis, off of which most CWRS contracts Canada are based, was quoted Friday at US$5.505 per bushel, down 10.75 U.S. cents from the previous week.
Kansas City hard red winter wheat futures, traded in Chicago, are more closely linked to CPSR in Canada. The March K.C. wheat contract was quoted Friday at US$4.96 per bushel, down 6.75 U.S. cents compared to the previous week.
The March Chicago Board of Trade soft wheat contract settled Friday at US$5.115 per bushel, down 0.25 U.S. cents on the week.
The Canadian dollar was weaker at 73.32 U.S. cents, down by almost a half cent.
— Glen Hallick writes for Commodity News Service Canada, a Glacier FarmMedia company specializing in grain and commodity market reporting.
