Portland Grain Review 04/05

April 5, 2018 Portland Price Trends 04-01-17 08-01-17 03-01-18 03-29-18 04-03-18 #1 SWW (bu) 4.82 5.20 5.78 5.80 5.90 White Club 4.97 5.30 5.78 5.80 5.90 DNS 14% 6.66 8.38 7.64 7.08 7.15 HRW 11.5% 4.94 5.65 6.83 6.17 6.44 #2 Corn (ton) 160.00 148.00 173.00 175.00 177.00 #2 Barley 120.00 125.00 150.00 152.00 152.00 Wheat...Relatively firm basis levels and a rebound in Chicago futures held west coast white wheat markets near new highs for the marketing year this week. Spot basis jumped to 140 over Chicago May futures last week, and posted at 128 over today; well above average and indicative of recent export demand for U.S. white wheat. Crop Progress...The first spring assessment of winter wheat conditions shows the PNW crop off to a relatively good start, ranking at 103% of the 20-year average and at 98% of the first reading on last year's crop. The three-state weighted index reflects a 63% good to excellent rating on the Idaho crop; 82% for Oregon and 77% for Washington. Weekly Sales...USDA showed a retreat in export demand for U.S. wheat, coming in at just 4 mb and lowest in three months. Year-to-date sales are now at 842 mb, which is 15% below a year ago and 8% below the five-year averag pace. Top seller was hard red spring with nearly half the weekly total, followed by hard red winter with 1.5 mb. White wheat registered only 100,000 bushels net for the week. -Norm Ruhoff Contributing Analyst Copyright 2018 DTN/Telvent. All Rights Reserved.