TOP STORIES

Cattle Prices Climb as Traders Anticipate Growing Asian Demand -- Update

Cattle prices in the U.S. have risen since September, as a protein shortage in Asia drives bets that livestock will be in increasingly high demand.

Live cattle futures on the CME are up 14% from the start of a rally on Sept. 10 to nearly $1.14 a pound.

Retail prices are also up. Prices for many cuts of beef were advertised higher this week than at this time last year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. A common variety of ground beef sold for an average of $3.75 a pound this week, for instance, up nearly 20% from a year earlier.

Canadian Food Agency Adds More Beef, Veal Products to Recall List

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has added beef and veal products to a list that now includes hundreds of items recalled because of E.coli concerns, but said there have been no reported illnesses associated with items recalled during its investigation.

The CFIA said Oct. 1 that Ryding-Regency Meat Packers Ltd. recalled some raw beef and raw veal products, and said more recalls were possible. The CFIA suspended Ryding-Regency's license in September.

Hardee's to Test Beyond Meat at Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner Options

CKE Restaurants Holdings Inc.'s Hardee's said it is working with Beyond Meat Inc. (BYND) to offer plant-based breakfast, lunch and dinner options.

Hardee's said it will be testing a new Beyond Breakfast Sausage Biscuit and an Original Beyond Thickburger in two regional markets--Raleigh, N.C. and Kansas City, Mo.--beginning Wednesday.

STORIES OF INTEREST

Unilever Margins, Pricing to Attract 3Q Interest -- Market Talk

16:21 GMT - Unilever investors are likely to eye margins and pricing when the Anglo-Dutch consumer-goods group reports 3Q results on Thursday Oct. 17. Morgan Stanley says that with growth likely to stay lackluster, it expects investors to focus on the company's 2020 margin target and whether the group is prioritizing growth or profitability. It says the market will also look for any sign that pricing in the first half, combined with input cost tailwinds for the second half, will provide savings to boost growth or margins. (philip.waller@wsj.com)

FUTURES MARKETS

Hog Prices Fall, Cattle Resumes Climb -- Market Talk

15:13 ET - Lean hog futures on the CME finished down 2.1% to 70.625 cents per pound, trimming some of the 4.3% uptick seen in Tuesday's session. It also is a withdrawal from the highest levels of the contract has been since Oct. 1. It's high enough that some traders are advocating for selling some of their position in hogs. "We feel bellies are approaching highs... combined with seasonality, we feel the markets are at a level that should be sold," says John Payne of Daniels Trading. Meanwhile, live cattle futures are continuing to rally, finishing 0.4% higher to $1.13875 per pound. Cattle has now rallied 14% since last month. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com; @kirkmaltais)

CASH MARKETS

 
Estimated U.S. Pork Packer Margin Index - Oct 16 
 
All figures are on a per-head basis. 
 
Date     Standard Margin       Estimated margin 
         Operating Index         at vertically - 
                             integrated operations 
 
Oct 16       +$ 29.99            +$ 35.06 
Oct 15       +$ 32.34            +$ 36.31 
Oct 14       +$ 35.65            +$ 36.74 
 
* 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  106.7 
      (Percent of Year-Ago)     Select   99.4 
 
USDA Boxed Beef, Pork Reports 
 

Wholesale choice-grade beef prices Wednesday rose 26 cents per hundred pounds, to $218.28, according to the USDA. Select-grade prices fell 11 cents per hundred pounds, to $191.37. The total load count was 154. Wholesale pork prices fell 58 cents, to $76.71 a hundred pounds, based on Omaha, Neb., price quotes.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 16, 2019 17:26 ET (21:26 GMT)