CNS Canada –– Cash spring wheat bids across Western Canada moved lower during the week ended Friday, as the firmer Canadian dollar and losses in U.S. wheat futures weighed on values.
Average Canada Western Red Spring (CWRS) wheat prices were down by $4-$6 per tonne over the week, 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 $219 to $220 per tonne in southeastern Saskatchewan and western Manitoba, to as high as $234 in southern Alberta.
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Quoted basis levels varied from location to location, but softened by about $5 per tonne on average to sit roughly at about $38-$53 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 the currency exchange rates by adjusting the Canadian prices to U.S. dollars, CWRS bids ranged from US$157 to $168 per tonne. That would put the currency adjusted basis levels at about US$13-$24 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 $21 to $33 below the futures.
Average Canada Prairie Spring Red (CPSR) bids were down by as much as $13-$17 per tonne. Average CPSR prices came in at about $169-$175 per tonne in Saskatchewan, and $183 per tonne in Alberta.
Average durum prices were down during the week, losing anywhere from $3 to $6 per tonne. Bids in southern Saskatchewan, where the bulk of the crop is grown, were down by $4, to sit at roughly $306 per tonne.
The March spring wheat contract in Minneapolis, off of which most CWRS contracts in Canada are based, was quoted at US$4.9125 per bushel on Friday, down US8.75 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 at US$4.54 per bushel on Feb. 5, down US18 cents compared to the previous week.
The March Chicago Board of Trade soft wheat contract settled at US$4.6675 on Friday, which was US12.5 cents lower compared to one week earlier.
The Canadian dollar closed Friday at US71.9 cents, up by about half a cent relative to its U.S. counterpart compared to the previous week.
— Phil Franz-Warkentin writes for Commodity News Service Canada, a Winnipeg company specializing in grain and commodity market reporting.
