Glacier FarmMedia | MarketsFarm—Harvest pressure and weakened United States wheat futures pressured most Western Canadian wheat bids during the week ended Aug. 22.
Canadian National Railway and Canadian Pacific Kansas City failed to reach an agreement with the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference by the deadline of midnight Aug. 22. As a result, traffic on both railways was halted simultaneously for the first time ever. Later that day, Canadian Labour Minister Steve MacKinnon announced he sent the dispute to binding arbitration and ordered operations at CN Rail to resume as soon as possible.
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The Canadian Grain Commission reported 316,100 tonnes of wheat export sales during the week ended Aug. 18, compared to 528,000 the week before. The total for the first two weeks of the 2024-25 marketing year at 841,100 tonnes exceeded the total from one year ago at 624,100 tonnes.
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) reported a total of 492,700 tonnes of wheat sold for export during the week ended Aug. 15, a five-week high and at the higher end of trade expectations.
Spring wheat conditions in the U.S. were up one point from the previous week at 73 per cent good to excellent as of Aug. 18, according to the USDA. The country’s spring wheat harvest was 31 per cent complete, behind the historical average of 36 per cent, while the winter wheat harvest was 96 per cent complete.
Canadian Western Red Spring (CWRS) dropped C$5.70 to C$16.30 per tonne, according to price quotes from a cross-section of delivery points compiled by PDQ (Price and Data Quotes). Average prices were between C$233.40/tonne in southeast Saskatchewan to C$259.10 in southern Alberta.
Quoted basis levels ranged from between C$24.60 to C$50.30/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.
Accounting for exchange rates and adjusting Canadian prices to U.S. dollars (C$1=US$0.7352), CWRS bids were from US$171.60 to US$190.50/tonne. Currency adjusted basis levels ranged from US$18.30 to US$37.20 below the futures. If the futures were converted to Canadian dollars, basis levels would be C$13.50 to C$27.40 below the futures.
Meanwhile, Canadian Prairie Red Spring (CPRS) prices were down C$9.80 to C$12.90 per tonne. The lowest average bid for CPRS was C$199.90 in southeast Saskatchewan, while the highest average bid was C$226.10 in southern Alberta.
The average prices for Canada Western Amber Durum (CWAD) were down C$0.60 to up C$2.90 per tonne with bids between C$286.60 in northwest Saskatchewan to C$298.90 in western Manitoba.
The September spring wheat contract in Minneapolis, which most CWRS contracts are based off of, was quoted at US$5.6825 per bushel on Aug. 22 and 18 U.S. cents lower than 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 September contract was quoted at US$5.2925/bu., down 7.75 U.S. cents.
The September Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) wheat contract lost 17.25 U.S. cents from the previous week at US$5.11/bu.
The Canadian dollar rose 0.61 of a U.S. cent to close at 73.52 cents U.S. by Aug. 22.
