CNS Canada –– Cash wheat bids across Western Canada posted small losses over the week ended Friday, as the strengthening Canadian dollar cut into basis levels.
Average Canada Western Red Spring (CWRS) wheat prices were generally down by C$1 to $4 per tonne across the three Prairie provinces, according to price quotes from a cross-section of delivery points. Bids ranged from $226 per tonne in Manitoba and northern Saskatchewan to $240 per tonne in southern Alberta.
Quoted basis levels varied from location to location, but softened by $3 on average to sit at $36 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 the currency exchange rates by adjusting the Canadian prices to U.S. dollars, CWRS bids ranged from US$174 to $185 per tonne. That would put the currency-adjusted basis levels at about US$10-$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 C$13 to $27 below the futures.
Average Canada Prairie Spring Red (CRSR) bids were down C$1-$4 per tonne. CPSR prices came in at about $183 per tonne in Manitoba, $193-$194 per tonne in Saskatchewan, and $206 per tonne in Alberta.
Soft white spring (CWSWS) wheat prices held steady on average, ranging from C$210 to $211 per tonne in Alberta.
Winter (CWRW) wheat prices were steady to C$3 per tonne lower. Prices ranged from roughly C$186 to $190 per tonne across the Prairies.
Average durum (CWAD) prices were steady to down C$7 per tonne. Average bids in southern Saskatchewan, where the bulk of the crop is grown, were down by C$4 per tonne to sit at $322.
The December spring wheat contract in Minneapolis, off of which most CWRS contracts in Canada are based, was quoted at US$5.295 per bushel on Friday, up 2.25 cents from the week prior.
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 Friday at US$5.0025 per bushel, down a quarter cent from the week before.
The December Chicago Board of Trade soft wheat contract settled at US$5.0925 on Friday, four cents weaker compared to the week prior.
The Canadian dollar closed Friday at US77.3 cents, up by over a cent relative to its U.S. counterpart compared to the previous week.
For our weekly table of cash prices, CLICK HERE.
— Phil Franz-Warkentin writes for Commodity News Service Canada, a Winnipeg company specializing in grain and commodity market reporting. Follow CNS Canada at @CNSCanada on Twitter.
