LIVESTOCK HIGHLIGHTS: Top Stories of the Day
17 January 2020 - 10:25PM
Dow Jones News
TOP STORIES
Beef Retail Price Highest Since 2014 -- Market Talk
12:16 ET - Retail prices for beef in December were $6.09 per
pound on average, 4.4% higher than they were a year ago, according
to USDA data. This is the highest that December retail beef prices
have been since 2014. "Higher wholesale beef prices in November,
especially the big jump in the value of end cuts, likely caused
retailers to mark up beef items in the meat case," says Steiner
Consulting Group. This may indicate higher consumer demand for
beef, but could be bad news for traders hoping for China to take
more beef exports as a result of the US-China trade deal. "Higher
retail prices will likely make beef less competitive versus other
proteins," says the firm. Live cattle futures on the CME are down
0.2% in trading Friday. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com; @kirkmaltais)
Cracks Are Showing in This Egg-Saturated Chinese Market
New cracks have appeared in China's egg market, the result of an
uptick in production and a drop in meat prices at the end of
2019.
Since November, prices of one-month egg futures on the Dalian
Commodity Exchange have fallen 45% to about 2983 yuan ($433.73) a
metric ton. That means they have largely erased an 81% gain last
year that followed increases in pork and other meat prices in
China.
STORIES OF INTEREST
Beyond Meat Stock Has Surged, but Competitors Have Their Knives
Out -- Barrons.com
Wall Street analysts are reacting to Beyond Meat stock's epic
run -- mostly with skepticism despite an improving sales
outlook.
Friday , Credit Suisse analyst Robert Moskow increased his price
target for shares of the protein-industry disrupter to $125 from
$115. Moskow, however, maintained his Hold rating on Beyond Meat
(ticker: BYND) stock. He's impressed with the company's execution
in expanding production capacity and distribution. But concerns
about faux-meat competition remain. (Earlier in the week, Bernstein
analyst Alexia Howard cut her rating to Hold from Buy.)
Agri Markets are Underestimating Potential Pickup in U.S.
Exports to China: JPM -- Market Talk
1129 GMT - Soybean prices slip in Chicago, extending their
recent decline as traders continue to respond negatively to the
U.S.-China deal. Down 0.1% at $9.23 a bushel, soybean futures are
on course to lose 2.5% over the course of the week. Agricultural
markets are "seeking proof of U.S. export demand," says Tracey
Allen of JP Morgan. But Allen thinks traders are underestimating
the extent to which American exports to China are likely to rise,
which could lift prices in the coming months. She expects China to
import 90 million metric tons of soybeans in total this year. "To
reach this target, particularly at a time when China's hog herd
will likely shift into an expansionary mode, will require sizeable
imports from Brazil, as well as the U.S." (joe.wallace@wsj.com)
The U.S. Hasn't Planted This Little Wheat in More Than a
Century
The last time that U.S. farmers planted so few acres with winter
wheat, William Howard Taft was president and the opening salvos of
World War I were still five years away.
About 30.8 million acres were planted with winter wheat this
season, down 1% from the year before and not much more than the
roughly 29.2 million acres that were seeded in 1909, according to
the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
FUTURES MARKETS
Hog Futures Finish Day With Gain -- Market Talk
15:39 ET - Lean hogs futures climb 1.2%, closing at 67.675 cents
per pound--a near recovery from yesterday's dip of 1.5%, making the
weekly movement of hogs up only 0.6%. This is a far cry from what
livestock traders expected with the signing of the US/China trade
deal Wednesday--a bigger positive reaction in pork futures was
predicted. Live cattle futures, meanwhile, finished 0.2% for the
day at $1.2635 per pound. For the week, cattle futures finished
0.8% lower. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com; @kirkmaltais)
CASH MARKETS
Estimated U.S. Pork Packer Margin Index - Jan 17
Source: USDA, based on Wall Street Journal calculations
All figures are on a per-head basis.
Date Standard Margin Estimated margin
Operating Index at vertically -
integrated operations
Jan 17 +$ 47.49 +$ 26.93
Jan 16 +$ 45.75 +$ 27.68
Jan 15 +$ 40.91 +$ 24.95
* 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 100.8
(Percent of Year-Ago) Select 102.5
USDA Boxed Beef, Pork Reports
Wholesale choice-grade beef prices Friday rose $1.27 per hundred
pounds, to $214.17, according to the USDA. Select-grade prices rose
$1.28 per hundred pounds, to $212.75. The total load count was 97.
Wholesale pork prices fell 35 cents, to $74.26 a hundred pounds,
based on Omaha, Neb., price quotes.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 17, 2020 17:10 ET (22:10 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.