Spot cash bids for hard red winter (HRW) wheat firmed at the US Gulf Coast on Thursday while the basis held steady elsewhere in the southern Plains and farmer selling remained thin, grain merchandisers said. The Gulf track basis bid rose to 126 cents over the K.C. July HRW wheat futures contract, up from 118 over a day earlier.

Rain was falling across northern Kansas and parts of southern Oklahoma, dealers said, bringing unwanted moisture to maturing HRW wheat crops and raising concerns about grain quality. Farmers are reluctant to make new-crop sales until they learn more about the size and quality of their harvest. The US Department of Agriculture's weekly export sales report showed net cancellations of 24,200 tonnes of old-crop wheat in the latest week, below trade expectations for net sales of 100,000 to 300,000 tonnes.

Copyright Reuters, 2017