Prices, curve structure, and premiums
The Canadian Wheat (Platts) futures, contract code CWR, complements the suite of CME Group Wheat futures, which include Chicago Wheat, Kansas City Wheat, Black Sea Wheat, and Australian Wheat. CWR is cash-settled basis Platts CWRS (Canadian Western Red Spring) Wheat for Number 2 CWRS 13.5% protein FOB Vancouver daily price assessment.
CWR closely tracks the FOB Vancouver Wheat cash market and allows commercial hedgers to manage price exposure to this market with an effective hedging tool. The chart above shows open interest across the curve, into the December 2023 contract. The graph below shows the premium between MGEX HRS front month futures and Platts 13.5% FOB Vancouver daily cash prices. There has been significant movement in the premium over the last several months – since September, the premium halved from 129 cents/bushel to 66 cents/bushel the next month, then back to 99 cents/bushel; representing a shift of as much as 7% compared to the MGEX futures price.
As with all other futures markets, CME Group publishes daily settlement prices for each listed CWR contract month at cmegroup.com/canadianwheat.
These provide settlement prices in 2022 and 2023, indicating futures values throughout the remainder of the year.
The futures curve also shows the carry or backwardation between the different months.
All examples in this report are hypothetical interpretations of situations and are used for explanation purposes only. The views in this report reflect solely those of the author and not necessarily those of CME Group or its affiliated institutions. This report and the information herein should not be considered investment advice or the results of actual market experience.
