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New York City to Resume Indoor Dining at Restaurants -- 2nd Update

New York City will allow indoor dining at restaurants at a limited capacity starting Sept. 30, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Wednesday, lifting a six-month ban aimed at stemming the spread of the new coronavirus.

Indoor dining had been one of the few remaining business activities awaiting approval to resume since the city began a phased reopening of its economy in June. While restaurants have been able to offer takeout and serve customers outdoors, the industry has struggled to make ends meet without the ability to offer indoor seating.

China's Hog-Raising Industry Consolidation to Accelerate Amid African Swine Fever -- Market Talk

0810 GMT - China's highly-fragmented hog-raising market will likely undergo accelerated industry consolidation amid the African swine fever outbreak in the country, Fitch Ratings says. As the epidemic severely hurts breeders' production volume, larger companies would be better able to withstand the impact, while smaller firms may be forced out of operations, Fitch notes. Moreover, leading breeders are aggressively expanding capacity to take advantage of increased pork prices, and Fitch expects such ramp-up to enable significant market share gains in the long run. Major breeders have also increasingly tapped into other parts of the industry, such as pork packaging and processing, which would further strengthen their dominant positions and underpin market consolidation, Fitch adds. (yifan.wang@wsj.com)

McDonald's to Test Reusable Cup for Hot Beverages at Select U.K. Restaurants

McDonald's Corp. said it is partnering with TerraCycle's circular packaging service, Loop, to test reusable cups for hot beverages at select U.K. restaurants in 2021.

Customers would give a small deposit for the Loop-created cup, which they would return to certain restaurants for washing and reuse afterward, McDonald's said.

STORIES OF INTEREST

Brazil Poultry Exports Jumped 11.3% in August -- Market Talk

11:32 ET - Brazilian poultry producers increased exports by 11.3%, to 362,400 metric tons, in August from the same month a year earlier, according to the Brazilian Animal Protein Association. The value of the exports declined 10% in the same period to $497.8M, the group said without providing an explanation. China was the biggest destination for Brazil's poultry exports in August, with a 46% jump from August 2019 to 54,700 tons. Saudi Arabia was the second most important buyer, with sales up 24% from a year earlier to 46,700 tons, the group says. Brazil is the world's second-biggest poultry producer, after the US. (jeffrey.lewis@wsj.com)

Casey's Prepped Food Business Down, But Improving -- Market Talk

11:57 ET - Casey's General Stores is seeing improvements in demand across its sales categories in its current quarter, CEO Darren Rebelez says on a call covering 1Q, which ended July 31. That includes the prepared-foods and fountain-drinks side of the convenience-store chain, where sales on a same-store basis dropped about 10% for the last period. That unit has seen the "most pressure since the crisis began," with breakfast hurt the most as commuting patterns have changed, Rebelez says. In the current quarter, demand for prepared food and drinks is still lower than a year ago, but better than the previous period, he adds. At the end of 1Q, the company had some 200 stores with food restrictions and 50 with restrictions on drinks, according to Rebelez. (micah.maidenberg@wsj.com; @MicahMaidenberg)

Pizza Hut UK Franchise Expects to Close 29 Restaurants, Cut 450 Jobs

Pizza Hut Restaurants, the U.K. dine-in franchise business of the Pizza Hut brand, said Wednesday that it is likely to close 29 restaurants and cut 450 jobs as it negotiates a company-voluntary agreement to mitigate the impact from the pandemic.

The company said sales aren't expected to fully bounce back until well into 2021. Any measures adopted will aim to protect about 5,000 jobs at its remaining 215 restaurants, Pizza Hut Restaurants said.

FUTURES MARKETS

Hog Futures Finish at Highest Level in Over 3 Months -- Market Talk

15:44 ET - Lean hog futures on the CME closed up 2.5% at 61.375 cents per pound. It's the highest they've traded at since May 27 - or over three months. Since the start of the month, hog futures have risen 13.7%, in reaction to stronger-than-expected pork demand among consumers, which is pushing cutout prices higher. Carcass prices rose $2.72 per hundredweight Wednesday, to $83.68 per cwt. Cutout prices have risen 13.8% in the past five days alone. Cattle futures, meanwhile, fell 1% to $1.047 per pound. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com; @kirkmaltais)

CASH MARKETS

 
Estimated U.S. Pork Packer Margin Index - Sep 9 
 
All figures are on a per-head basis. 
 
Date     Standard Margin       Estimated margin 
         Operating Index         at vertically - 
                             integrated operations 
 
Sep  9       +$ 56.93            +$ 43.54 
Sep  8       +$ 69.34            +$ 46.23 
Sep  4       +$ 65.36            +$ 44.59 
 
* 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   98.9 
      (Percent of Year-Ago)      Select  103.2 
 
USDA Boxed Beef, Pork Reports 
 

Wholesale choice-grade beef prices Wednesday fell $1.87 per hundred pounds, to $222.95, according to the USDA. Select-grade prices fell 95 cents per hundred pounds, to $207.51. The total load count was 186. Wholesale pork prices fell $1.25, to $79.32 a hundred pounds, based on Omaha, Neb., price quotes.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 09, 2020 17:43 ET (21:43 GMT)

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