Winnipeg – Western Canadian wheat bids were mixed during the week ended Feb. 14, with a steady tone in Canada Western Red Spring (CWRS) bids and losses in Canada Prairie Spring Red (CPSR) wheat as U.S. futures moved in opposite directions and the Canadian dollar weakened slightly.
Average Canadian Western Red Spring (13.5 percent CWRS) wheat prices were steady to up a dollar, according to price quotes from a cross-section of delivery points compiled by PDQ (Price and Data Quotes). Average prices ranged from about C$248 per tonne in western Manitoba and southeast Saskatchewan to as high as C$269 in southern Alberta.
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Quoted basis levels varied from location to location and ranged from $40 to $60 per tonne above the futures when using the grain company methodology of quoting the basis as the difference between the U.S. dollar denominated futures and the Canadian dollar cash bids.
When accounting for currency exchange rates by adjusting Canadian prices to U.S. dollars (C$1=US$0.7520) CWRS bids ranged from US$186 to US$202 per tonne. That would put the currency adjusted basis levels at about US$7 to US$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 C$9 to C$30 below the futures.
Canada Prairie Spring Red (CPSR) wheat bids were weaker, decreasing by around C$3 to C$4 per tonne. Prices ranged from C$215 per tonne in southwestern Saskatchewan to C$239 per tonne in southern Alberta.
Average durum prices were up by C$1 to C$7 per tonne, with bids ranging from C$237 to C$247 per tonne across the Prairies.
The March spring wheat contract in Minneapolis, which most CWRS contracts Canada are based off of, was quoted at US$5.7475 per bushel on Feb. 14, up by 6.25 U.S. cents from the previous week.
The Kansas City hard red winter wheat futures, which are now traded in Chicago, are more closely linked to CPSR in Canada.
The Chicago Board of Trade March soft wheat contract settled at US$5.0700 per bushel on Feb. 14, down by 10.25 U.S. cents on the week.
The Canadian dollar bounced around during the week, but ended roughly a fifth of a cent lower relative to its U.S. counterpart at 75.20 U.S. cents.
