LIVESTOCK HIGHLIGHTS: Top Stories of the Day
January 12 2018 - 5:34PM
Dow Jones News
TOP STORIES
Growing Appetites Fuel Record U.S. Meat Production
America is producing more meat than ever.
Farmers and meatpackers produced a record 99.7 billion pounds of
red meat and poultry in 2017, the U.S. Department of Agriculture
estimates. They are on track for an even bigger slaughter this
year.
Tyson Foods Inc., Sanderson Farms Inc. and other meat companies
are building new plants that are expected to push U.S. meat
production up 3.8% in 2018, the biggest increase in more than 20
years.
Corn Lowers After USDA Boosts Harvest Projection -- Market
Talk
12:14 ET - Corn futures tip to red after the USDA says farmers
last autumn brought in a larger crop than analysts had anticipated,
also delivering a bigger-than-expected estimate for supplies. The
agency said the 2017 corn harvest totaled 14.604B bushels, which
was higher than its November figure. That surprised analysts who
had anticipated a slight decrease. The USDA's figure for domestic
stockpiles added to negative sentiment in the market, as it
projected inventories this season at 2.477B bushels, a bump from
last month's projection. Analysts had also expected that figure to
decline. CBOT March corn falls 0.5% to $3.47/bu.
(jesse.newman@wsj.com; @jessenewman13)
STORIES OF INTEREST
Soybeans Set to Struggle in 2018 -- Market Talk
13:47 ET - US farmers are reaping what they sowed last year, and
that's a lot of soybeans. Farmers in the Midwest planted more
soybeans than ever in 2017, betting on the oilseeds to help keep
them afloat during a multiyear slump in crop prices and incomes.
Despite erratic weather, they raised a record crop. Now, USDA is
forecasting domestic reserves will balloon to the largest in 11
years, and some analysts worry that figure could grow larger still.
Prices for the oilseeds will "struggle to rally" amid growing
export competition from Brazil, says Karl Setzer of MaxYield
Cooperative, who adds that even a bump in demand from expanding US
crush facilities may not chew through the nation's supply as much
as needed. (jesse.newman@wsj.com; @jessenewman13)
Carrefour's Non-Food Deals Worrying: Bernstein -- Market
Talk
0733 GMT - Carrefour's acquisition of a 17% stake in
Showroomprive worries Bernstein, with the brokerage saying the deal
suggests a doubling down on non-food rather than a narrowing down,
and that it diverts more money outside Carrefour's core food and
grocery business. Bernstein says Carrefour's main priority is to
fix food retail, but recent months have seen two non-food deals.
The brokerage contrasts this with domestic competitor Leclerc,
which has just planned a EUR1 billion investment over three years
to grow and improve its current online grocery operations, despite
already dwarfing Carrefour in online groceries. Bernstein rates
Carrefour as underperform with a price target of EUR15.50.
Carrefour shares closed Thursday at EUR17.49.
(anthony.shevlin@dowjones.com)
FUTURES MARKETS
Livestock Futures Rise; Meat Supplies Grow in 2018
Livestock futures turned higher after a week punctuated by
selloffs.
The hog market was rocked earlier this week by renewed tensions
over the North American Free Trade Agreement, or Nafta, after
Canada filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization over the
Trump administration's use of tariffs.
CASH MARKETS
Estimated U.S. Pork Packer Margin Index - Jan 12
All figures are on a per-head basis.
Date Standard Margin Estimated margin
Operating Index at vertically -
integrated operations
*
Jan 12 +$14.25 +$ 38.99
Jan 11 +$12.43 +$ 37.49
Jan 10 +$13.80 +$ 39.34
* Based on Iowa State University's latest estimated cost of production.
A positive number indicates a processing margin above the cost of
production of the animals.
Beef-O-Meter
This report compares the USDA's latest beef carcass composite
values as a percentage of their respective year-ago prices.
Beef
For Today Choice 109.9
(Percent of Year-Ago) Select 107.3
USDA Boxed Beef, Pork Reports
Wholesale choice-grade beef prices Friday fell 84 cents per
hundred pounds, to $208.23, according to the USDA. Select-grade
prices fell $1.31 per hundred pounds, to $201.64. The total load
count was 106. Wholesale pork prices rose 70 cents, to $78.54 a
hundred pounds, based on Omaha, Neb., price quotes.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 12, 2018 17:19 ET (22:19 GMT)
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