U.S. Plains HRW Wheat-Basis steady; farmers sell as futures rally

CHICAGO, Feb 5 (Reuters) - Basis bids for hard red winter (HRW) wheat held steady at grain elevators in the southern U.S. Plains on Wednesday while K.C. HRW wheat futures KWH24 posted three-month highs, spurring scattered farmer sales, brokers said.

Producers sold some new-crop grain as the K.C. July HRW futures contract KWN25 reached $6.21 a bushel, its highest level since October 25, before turning lower and settling at $6.10-3/4, down 2-1/2 cents on the day.

Protein premiums for HRW wheat shipped by rail to or through Kansas City fell by 4 cents a bushel for wheat with 12.6% protein, and fell by 10 to 15 cents for wheat with 13.0% through 13.4% protein. Premiums for other grades were unchanged. KCBT/SCA

K.C. HRW wheat futures ended lower, pausing in a profit-taking setback after climbing to multi-month highs. The K.C. March wheat contract KWH25 settled down 3 cents at $5.91-3/4 per bushel after reaching $6.03-1/4, its highest since October 25. WHE/C

Ahead of Thursday's weekly export sales report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, traders expect the government to report export sales of U.S. wheat in the week ended January 30 at 200,000 to 550,000 metric tons.

Basis values are quoted against futures in cts/bu:

NOTES:

H = March, K = May, N = July, U = September

Z = December; UNQ = Unquoted bids

0 = Sp Option price; NC = No comparison

= No. 1 12% hard winter wheat, rail bids

= Ordinary protein, rail bids

LINKS:

K.C. HRW wheat protein scales KCBT/SCA

U.S. weekly wheat crop progress US/WHE

U.S. forward basis WHEAT/BASIS

U.S. Midwest cash grain PM GRA/PM

U.S. CIF Gulf Grain GRA/C

U.S. FOB Gulf Grain GRA/F