CNS Canada –– Spring wheat cash bids across Western Canada recorded minor losses during the week ended Friday. The declines were traced to weakness in U.S. futures and some minor strengthening in the Canadian dollar.
Depending on the location, average Canada Western Red Spring (CWRS) wheat prices were down $3 per tonne, according to price quotes from a cross-section of delivery points across the Prairie provinces compiled by PDQ (Price and Data Quotes). Average prices ranged from about $197 per tonne in southeastern Saskatchewan to as high as $209 in parts of Alberta.
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Quoted basis levels varied from location to location, losing anywhere from $1 to $4 on average to range from $18 to $30 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.
When accounting for currency exchange rates by adjusting Canadian prices to U.S. dollars, CWRS bids ranged from US$150 to US$160 per tonne. That would put the currency-adjusted basis levels at about US$19-$29 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 $27 to $39 below the futures.
Average Canada Prairie Spring Red (CPSR) bids came in at about $160 per tonne in Saskatchewan, and $168-$171 per tonne in Alberta.
Average durum prices were down $1-$7 per tonne, depending on the location, with bids in Saskatchewan ranging from roughly $249 to $253 per tonne.
The September spring wheat contract in Minneapolis, off of which most CWRS contracts in Canada are based, was quoted Friday at US$4.8825 per bushel, down seven U.S. cents per bushel from the previous week.
Kansas City hard red winter wheat futures, traded in Chicago, are more closely linked to CPSR in Canada. The September K.C. wheat contract was quoted at US$4.0975 per bushel on Friday, down US9.25 cents compared to the previous week.
The September Chicago Board of Trade soft wheat contract settled at US$4.0775 on Friday, down by US17.5 cents on the week.
The Canadian dollar closed Friday at US76.59 cents, up nearly half a a cent relative to its U.S. counterpart on the week.
— Dave Sims writes for Commodity News Service Canada, a Winnipeg company specializing in grain and commodity market reporting.
