March 9, 2023
                                                                  
                                   Portland Price Trends
                 03-01-22    08-01-22    01-01-23    03-02-23   03-09-23
#1 SWW (bu)        11.25        9.00        8.55        8.15       7.60
White Club         12.75        9.00        9.05        8.15       7.60
DNS 14%            11.59       10.08       10.19        9.59       9.10
HRW 11.5%          11.83       10.00       10.08        9.67       9.21
#2 Corn (ton)     313.00      279.00      302.00      280.00     272.00
#2 Barley         260.00      235.00      250.00      250.00     250.00

   Wheat...It was a rough and tumble week for west coast wheat markets,
following along with the retreat across the futures complex. Soft white
wheat bids slipped to the lowest level in nearly 2 years, dark northern
spring marked the lowest level since July 2021 and hard red winter was
flirting with the low water mark posted last August. USDA balance sheet  
updates showed no change in U.S. wheat carryout projections, and world
stocks estimates actually declined from last month.
   Weekly Sales...Weekly export sales showed the recent retreat in U.S.
wheat prices did little to stimulate demand, as total sales came in at
just under 10 mb for the week.  Year-to-date commitments of 639 mb sit
6% behind a year ago and 17% below the five-year average pace. The top
seller was white wheat with 4 mb, putting sales at 161 mb which is 34%
ahead of a year ago but 33% below average.  Hard red winter registered
2.4 mb and with 174 mb in commitments, stands 36% behind a year ago and
10% below average.  Hard red spring also booked 2.4 mb to put sales at
193 mb; 5% ahead of a year ago but 16% below average.
   China Buying...USDA revealed China was switched from "unkown" status
to a designated buyer of white wheat, bringing year-to-date purchases of
U.S wheat to 35 mb compared to 31 mb a year ago.  Breaking purchases out
by class: China has bought 24 mb of white wheat compared to 11 mb a year
ago, no hard red winter compared to 7.2 a year ago, 4.8 mb of red spring
compared to no purchases a year ago, and 5.8 mb of soft red winter this
year compared to 13 mb a year ago.
      
                                    -Norm Ruhoff  Contributing Analyst

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