TOP STORIES

Big Food Encounters Familiar Challenges in Pet-Food Aisle

Food makers betting on pets to make up for falling sales to people are facing some familiar problems.

Pet foods with fancier ingredients are eating away at market share for mainstream brands. Snacks for dogs and cats are selling faster than meals. And a flood of new products is putting pressure on prices.

Wheat Prices Rally on Australian Production Cut

Wheat futures were higher Monday after Australia's winter wheat production estimates were cut, analysts said, while corn and soybeans posted small gains and losses.

Wheat contracts for December delivery rose 3.5% to $5.19 3/4 a bushel at the Chicago Board of Trade. January soybean contracts fell 0.4%, and December corn contracts rose 0.4%.

STORIES OF INTEREST

Wagamama Deal Turns Up Heat on Restaurant Group: AJ Bell -- Market Talk

1031 GMT - Restaurant Group is under pressure to get right the acquisition of Wagamama, given the negative shareholder reaction to the deal, as well as the difficult trading environment in which it operates, says AJ Bell. The company said it will raise GBP315 million in a rights issue to help fund the deal at a price of 108.5 pence per share. "The existing Restaurant Group portfolio is not exactly knocking the lights out with a 0.5% decline in total sales over 42 weeks, although trading has improved since the World Cup," says the brokerage, and adds that perhaps the focus should be on fixing the business rather than on ambitious M&A activity. (carlo.martuscelli@dowjones.com)

FUTURES MARKETS

Hog Futures End Higher as Disease Spreads in China -- Market Talk

15:36 ET - African swine fever is continuing to spread in China, prompting gains in U.S. hog futures Monday, analysts say. CME hog contracts for December delivery rise 1.3%, while cattle futures rise 0.3%. Reports of the disease being found in feed mills in China will make controlling the outbreaks practically impossible, experts say. "Industry officials are forced to adjust their scope of how widespread this virus can move," MaxYield Cooperative analysts say. (francesca.fontana@wsj.com; @francescamarief)

CASH MARKETS

 
Zumbrota, Minn Hog $1.00 Lower at $34.00 - Nov 12 
 
  Barrow and gilt prices at the Zumbrota, Minn., livestock market are 
$1.00 lower at $34.00 per hundredweight. 
 
  Sow prices are $1.00 lower.  Sows weighing 400-450 pounds are at $35.00-$36.00, 
450-500 pounds are $35.00-$36.00 and those over 500 pounds are at $38.00-$40.00. 
 
The day's total run is estimated at 100 head. 
 
Prices are provided by the Central Livestock Association. 
 
Estimated U.S. Pork Packer Margin Index - Nov 12 
 
Source: USDA, based on Wall Street Journal calculations 
All figures are on a per-head basis. 
 
Date     Standard Margin       Estimated margin 
         Operating Index         at vertically - 
                             integrated operations 
                                      * 
Nov 12       +$ 31.80            +$ 16.18 
Nov  9       +$ 28.62            +$ 14.97 
Nov  8       +$ 29.56            +$ 17.57 
 
* 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  101.3 
      (Percent of Year-Ago)     Select  103.4 
 
USDA Boxed Beef, Pork Reports 

Wholesale choice-grade beef prices Monday rose 35 cents per hundred pounds, to $215.55, according to the USDA. Select-grade prices rose $1.67 per hundred pounds, to $200.39. The total load count was 87. Wholesale pork prices rose 56 cents, to $69.26 a hundred pounds, based on Omaha, Neb., price quotes.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 12, 2018 17:24 ET (22:24 GMT)