TOP STORIES

US Meat Exports Ail as Coronavirus Spreads -- Market Talk

12:11 ET - As consumer pantry and freezer-stocking eases, the US meat industry remains reliant on export markets, but the coronavirus is proving a formidable hurdle. Sanderson Farms is still shipping poultry to China, where logistical constraints are easing, but it's a different story in markets like Kazakhstan and Vietnam, where mitigation efforts and stay-at-home orders are cutting into imports, says CEO Joe Sanderson. Oil-reliant countries, like Angola, are grappling with the downdraft in crude prices, and the stronger US dollar is making US commodities more expensive relative to products offered by other countries, like Brazil. (jacob.bunge@wsj.com; @jacobbunge)

Coronavirus Had Sanderson Considering Euthanizing Chickens -- Market Talk

11:53 ET - The dropoff in the restaurant business is forcing chicken processors to figure out what to do with the traditionally larger-sized birds raised for foodservice markets. Sanderson Farms CEO Joe Sanderson says his company looked at euthanizing some of them, versus the added processing and transport costs of trucking them to retail-processing plants and paring them down for supermarket-ready packages. "We looked at it and said, process the birds, and sell them," Sanderson says on a conference call, though he says the company has the contractors and know-how to do it if need be. (jacob.bunge@wsj.com; @jacobbunge)

Brinker Withdraws FY20 Guidance, Suspends Dividend >EAT

Brinker International Inc. said Thursday it is withdrawing its financial guidance for fiscal 2020 and suspending its quarterly dividend as a result of conditions arising from Covid-19.

The restaurant company said its Chili's and Maggiano's restaurants are operating in an off-premise-only model, and off-premise sales have more than doubled year-over-year.

STORIES OF INTEREST

Meat Plant Employees Still Showing Up, Sanderson Says -- Market Talk

11:34 ET - The US food system depends heavily on employees continuing to staff often-crowded processing lines, like those run by Mississippi-based chicken company Sanderson Farms. CEO Joe Sanderson says on a conference call that employee attendance in recent weeks has been mostly acceptable, with larger-than-normal absenteeism. That hasn't stopped Sanderson from running weekend shifts in many of its plants as the company plays catch-up to roaring supermarket demand, though this will ease as April goes on, Sanderson says, to avoid burning out workers. (jacob.bunge@wsj.com; @jacobbunge)

FUTURES MARKETS

Livestock Futures Close Day Limit Down on Coronavirus Worries -- Market Talk

14:40 ET - Both live cattle and lean hogs on the CME finish limit down for the second consecutive day. Hog and cattle limits were expanded today and will remain at the expanded 4.5 cents per pound limit Friday. "The meat markets remain under heavy selling pressure due to the recent sharp drop in product prices as domestic demand falls due to coronavirus," says Arlan Suderman of INTL FCStone. Lean hogs finished the day down 7.9% to 52.825 cents per pound, while live cattle dropped 5.1% to 83.075 cents per pound. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com; @kirkmaltais)

CASH MARKETS

 
Estimated U.S. Pork Packer Margin Index - Apr 2 
 
All figures are on a per-head basis. 
 
Date     Standard Margin       Estimated margin 
         Operating Index         at vertically - 
                             integrated operations 
 
Apr  2       +$ 26.85            -$  6.59 
Apr  1       +$ 16.96            -$  1.20 
Mar 31       +$ 13.95            +$  5.55 
 
* 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  102.9 
      (Percent of Year-Ago)     Select  101.4 
 
USDA Boxed Beef, Pork Reports 
 

Wholesale choice-grade beef prices Thursday fell $2.53 per hundred pounds, to $232.64, according to the USDA. Select-grade prices fell $3.01 per hundred pounds, to $222.12. The total load count was 115. Wholesale pork prices fell $2.51, to $58.67 a hundred pounds, based on Omaha, Neb., price quotes.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 02, 2020 17:51 ET (21:51 GMT)