US Plains HRW Wheat-Basis steady-firmer as KC wheat futures slide

CHICAGO, May 7 (Reuters) - Basis bids for hard red winter wheat were steady to stronger in the southern U.S. Plains on Thursday, improving in a few locations as farmer grain sales remained light, merchandisers said.

• The spot basis firmed by 10 cents a bushel at elevators in Wichita and Newton, Kansas.

• A retreat in K.C. hard red winter wheat futures this week has discouraged grain sales by farmers who are already uncertain about the size of their harvest following months of dry weather across the region.

• Benchmark K.C. July wheat KWN26 futures tumbled 19-3/4 cents on Thursday to settle at $6.67-1/4 per bushel. The contract reached $7.18-1/2 last week, the highest on a continuous chart of the most-active contract KWv1 since June 2024.

• Wheat futures fell as traders concluded that overnight freezes in the Plains were not as harmful as feared, causing only spotty damage to maturing winter wheat crops.

• Protein premiums for railcar HRW wheat to and through Kansas City rose by 8 cents a bushel for wheat with 13.0% through 13.4% protein while premiums for other grades were unchanged. KCBT/SCA

• The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported net export sales of U.S. old-crop wheat in the week ended April 30 at 78,800 metric tons, below trade expectations, and new-crop sales of 187,500 tons, in line with expectations.

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