The Platts wheat benchmark, Milling Wheat Marker, spread over Canadian Western Red Spring wheat has widened to a 10-month high of $51/metric ton on May 12, as futures volatility and currency weakness have pressured Canadian wheat prices relative to global benchmarks. Platts is part of S&P Global Energy.
The gap has steadily widened since March, driven primarily by futures price movements rather than fundamental shifts in the CWRS market. The May 12 spike in the MWM-CWRS spread coincided with a futures rally that lifted CWRS prices while the MWM remained largely stable. Despite the steady incline, the gap is still half of its historic $82/mt spread from June 6, 2025.
Platts last assessed CWRS at $280.17/mt and the MWM at $241/mt on May 14.
Canadian wheat rose to $289.54/mt on May 12, its highest price since June 2025, as the July MIAX hard red spring wheat futures rallied 37.50 cents/bushel on bearish US Department of Agriculture supply estimates, which had cut its US wheat production forecast by 425 million bushels.
Overall, poor drought conditions and winter wheat quality concerns in the US have also supported wheat futures since April, with the latest May 11 USDA Crop Progress report revealing 40% of winter wheat rated poor to very poor condition.
A strong Canadian wheat export demand, which has been driving at a pace ahead of previous years, also underpinned Canadian prices in recent months. For the week ended May 10, wheat exports year to date totaled 17.46 million mt compared to 16.8 million mt the year before. Selective producer selling has also supported CWRS prices as growers await better pricing opportunities.