Wheat bids in Western Canada were up for the week ended Nov. 16, as a weaker Canadian dollar supported prices.
Average Canada Western Red Spring (CWRS, 13.5 per cent protein) wheat prices were up by as much as $3 per tonne, according to price quotes from a cross-section of delivery points compiled by PDQ (Price and Data Quotes). Average prices ranged from about $250 per tonne in southeastern Saskatchewan to as high as $271 in southern Alberta.
Quoted basis levels varied from location to location and ranged from $37 to $58 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.
Read Also
Prairie spring wheat looks like a bumper crop
Canada will likely set a new record for spring wheat yields this year, topping the previous mark of 54.1 bushels an acre set in 2020.
When accounting for currency exchange rates by adjusting Canadian prices to U.S. dollars, CWRS bids ranged from US$190 to US$206 per tonne. That would put the currency-adjusted basis levels at about US$7-$23 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 $9 to $30 below the futures.
Canada Prairie Spring Red (CPSR) wheat bids were stronger, increasing by $2 to $6 per tonne depending on the location. Prices ranged from $215 in southeastern Saskatchewan to $234 per tonne in southern Alberta.
Average durum prices were up, with bids ranging anywhere from $212 in southwestern Saskatchewan to $224 in western Manitoba, depending on the location.
The December spring wheat contract in Minneapolis, off of which most CWRS contracts Canada are based, was quoted Nov. 16 at US$5.7125 per bushel, down 8.75 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 December K.C. wheat contract was quoted at US$4.8275 per bushel on Nov. 16, down by 14.5 U.S. cents compared to the previous week.
The December Chicago Board of Trade soft wheat contract settled at US$5.0675 per bushel on Nov. 16, down one U.S. cent on the week.
The Canadian dollar settled Nov. 16 at 76.02 U.S. cents, down almost a quarter of a U.S. cent.
