Milling & Baking News - October 15, 2024 - 38

MARKET insights
Bulk, f.o.b. car, per cwt
Bulk, f.o.b. car, per cwt
Bulk, f.o.b. car, per cwt
TUES | 1 0 15 2024
BAKERS STANDARD, KANSAS CITY
Bakery Flour
Bookings of bakery flour were
extremely limited last week. Spot prices
were pulled in mixed directions. Prices
for flour milled from winter wheat were
raised, while spring grades were lowered.
Business volume was unusually light.
One miller said no bakers or food manufacturing
customers took any coverage in
the week. A competitor said the equivalent
of one day's mill grind had been sold in the
first four days of the week.
Distributors and commercial bakers
taking a hand-to-mouth stance comprised
most of the sales and employed flat pricing.
Component buyers kept to the sidelines
but were closely watching the cash
basis. Specifically, many were hoping for
a break in Minneapolis spring wheat cash
premiums. Should that happen, buyers
would be poised to complete contracts by
folding in wheat futures locked in earlier
with disappointingly low millfeed credits
most bakers were booking on a hand-tomouth
basis.
" Bakers are more basis-focused than
they have been in a long time, a culmination
of frustration that this market has gone
up, and they're seeing basis as the way it's
going to come back down, " a miller said.
Average coverage level estimates were
unchanged from the prior week with the
current quarter at 90% for spring grades,
85% for pan bread flour and 65% for cookiecracker
and specialty bakers.
Kansas City
Bakers short patent
Minneapolis
Spring short patent
Spring standard patent
High gluten
Whole wheat
Specialty whole wheat
Fancy spring clear
First spring clear
Rye, white
Chicago
Cracker
Fancy cake
New York
Winter/spring blend
Spring standard patent
High gluten
Fancy cake
Rye, white
Los Angeles
Bakers standard patent
Pastry
Bulk, f.o.b. car, $ per cwt
38 MILLING & BAKING NEWS
BAKERY FLOUR
Oct. 11
17.00
Bakers standard patent
Second clear
16.90
8.85
- Change from - Year
Oct. 4 Sept. 27 ago
0.15
0.15
-
20.05 -0.25
19.95 -0.25
20.85 -0.25
19.95 -0.25
20.30 -0.25
19.80
0.95 17.50
0.95 17.40
- 8.85
-0.25
19.70 -0.25
32.10
0.15
15.45 0.65
16.95 0.65
19.40
0.15
22.25 -0.45
23.15
21.90
22.05
-0.45
18.95 0.65
34.60
0.15
0.15
0.15
0.65 18.75
0.65 18.65
0.65 19.55
0.65 18.65
0.65 19.00
0.65 18.50
0.65 18.40
0.25 24.75
1.00 12.10
1.00 13.60
0.95 19.90
0.35 22.00
0.35 22.90
1.00 15.60
0.25 27.25
0.95 22.40
0.95 22.55
Shipping directions kept US flour mills
running between five and six days. MBN
Family Flour
Weekly seasonal increases in sales and
shipments of national and regional brands
of family flour continued last week amid
the runup to the fall baking season. Carlot
list prices were left unchanged.
Orders from grocery stores and mass
merchandisers were coming in to support
upcoming promotions. Promotions weren't
expected to discount regular list prices as
deeply as in the year past.
" On branded, I think two-for-$7 will be a
pretty hot ad this year, possibly some twofor-$6
deals, but not many, " a miller said.
Private label buyers continued to extend
coverage after nearly six months of little or
no activity. They locked in flour for periods
ranging as far out as the full calendar year
2025. Others were negotiating quarterly or
four-month contracts with millers.
Price spotters in the mid-South noted
competing regional brands were priced
at $3.99 for a 5-lb bag at grocery stores.
Promotions had national brands in the
same size package between $3.50 and $4.99,
which compared with private label at $2.69.
A mass merchandiser located in the same
region listed national brands for $4.37 and
private label for $2.38. MBN
Semolina
Bookings of semolina, granulars and
durum flour were limited. Spot values
were raised 10¢ per cwt in consideration
of easing millfeed values in the Upper
Midwest.
Pasta manufacturers were shoring up
current-quarter semolina needs and " chipping
away " at first-half 2025 coverage. The
average of durum millers' coverage estimates
was 95% for the current quarter, 50% for the
first quarter and 15% for the second quarter.
Durum
Chicago
Minneapolis
DURUM AND SEMOLINA
Oct. 11
9.90
9.70
-
-
- Change from - Year
Oct. 4 Sept. 27 ago
- 13.30
- 13.10
No. 1 Hard Amber Durum Choice Milling 13%, Track, $ per bu
Semolina
Semolina
Granulars
Flour
First clear
Second clear
Semolina - NY
Oct. 11
24.25
24.05
23.95
15.00
7.50
28.05
Bulk, f.o.b. Minneapolis, $ per cwt
- Change from - Year
Oct. 4 Sept. 27 ago
+.10
+.10
+.10
-
-
+.10
+.20 31.75
+.20 31.55
+.20 31.45
- 15.00
- 7.50
+.20 35.05
$13.00
$16.00
$19.00
$22.00
$25.00
$28.00
O JAJ
Previous Year
Current Year
SPRING STANDARD, MINNEAPOLIS
$16.00
$20.00
$24.00
$28.00
OJ AJ
Previous Year
CRACKER FLOUR, CHICAGO
$10.50
$13.50
$16.50
$19.50
$22.50
OJ AJ
Previous Year
Current Year
Current Year
The price of choice milling hard amber
durum as quoted at the Chicago rail gateway
for delivery beyond was $9.90 a bu,
unchanged. The price in Minneapolis was
$9.70 per bu.
Elevator bids to producers firmed
slightly to $6.60 per bu on average. Plentiful
bids indicated solid demand for durum
wheat. Those were met by a dearth of offers
from Plains elevators focused on the intake
and storage of fall crop harvests or from
producers likewise engaged having earlier
stowed their durum harvest.
" Demand is awfully strong, but there
aren't a whole lot of offers out there, not
much liquidity to get this market any better
defined, " a miller said. " We have been purchasing
some bushels, but that's starting to
slow. The farmer is always bullish. "
Strong demand for bulk semolina was
rivaled by a heavy demand for bagged
products, including 50-lb bags typically
sold to distributors.
" Lead times for bagged product are long, "
a miller said. " It's unclear where the surge
is coming from, but it seems to be industry
wide. "
Durum mill running time was heavy,
averaging between 5½ and 6 days. MBN
bakingbusiness.com
http://www.bakingbusiness.com
Milling & Baking News - October 15, 2024

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