US Plains HRW Wheat-Basis bids stay mostly flat, drought expands

CHICAGO, April 2 (Reuters) - Basis bids for hard red winter (HRW) wheat were mostly flat in the southern U.S. Plains, grain brokers said on Thursday, as drought expanded in the region.

• Beneficial rains were expected in the southeastern Plains after dry weather hurt crop conditions, analysts said. Persistent dryness was likely to cause more stress for crops in western areas, they said.

• About 45% of the High Plains region, which includes Kansas and Nebraska, was in severe drought as of Tuesday, up from 38% a week earlier, according to the latest U.S. Drought Monitor data.

• K.C. May hard red winter wheat KWK26 futures were up 3 cents at $6.16-3/4 per bushel in late trading.

• The contract climbed 9.5% in March on spillover buying from other markets and worries about unfavorably dry U.S. crop weather.

• Rising prices made U.S. wheat less competitive for global sales compared to supplies from the Black Sea and Europe, a broker said.

• U.S. export sales of hard red winter were 63,742 metric tons for 2025/26 in the week that ended on March 26, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said.

Basis values are quoted against futures in cts/bu:

NOTES:

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

Z = December; UNQ = Unquoted bids

0 = Spot 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. FOB Gulf Grain GRA/F