Weekly grain report

Byron Behne watches the grain markets for the Odessa Union Warehouse.

2/21/13: Wheat futures fell 17 cents in Chicago Thursday, as it seemed that the wet weather in the plains was once again a negative factor. The U.S. dollar has been rallying sharply over the past few days, also adding pressure to commodities. Egypt bought only one cargo of U.S. SRW in Tuesday’s tender and nothing from other locations. However, Egypt was rumored to be a buyer today as prices fell. China has also been talked about as buying a bunch of wheat from several origins including the U.S. in the last week. The government announced a donation of soft white wheat to Bangladesh yesterday, then promptly cancelled it today. It was slated to ship during the annual PNW river closure, which probably wasn’t going to work anyway. Tomorrow all eyes will be on export sales, as the U.S. looks to post a number north of 1 million metric tons.

2/25/13: Wheat futures fell on Monday as a fresh round of storms is once again bringing rain and snow to HRW in the plains. The market is increasingly trading weather, as export sales have failed to light a fire under things despite improving over the past two weeks. Corn futures gained 3 cents and now March corn futures are only 6 cents below wheat. This should force more wheat into feed rations this spring and hopefully provide a lower than expected quarterly stocks number at the end of March.

2/26/13: Wheat futures finally bounced today mostly due to corn also bouncing. March corn traded higher than March wheat today in Chicago, although it didn’t finish there. Hopefully, this bounce will continue through Thursday with a good export showing from wheat. If it does, it’s probably a selling opportunity at this point.