Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange lean hog futures rallied by their daily trading limits for a second straight day on Thursday on expectations that imports by China would surge as the country’s domestic hog herd is ravaged by a deadly hog disease. All hog contracts posted new contract highs and spot futures reached […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Hogs limit up again on China swine fever fears
U.S. grains: Corn rises as Midwest floods fuel planting concerns
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — U.S. corn futures jumped more than one per cent on Thursday to their highest level in 2-1/2 weeks as concerns about delayed planting in the western U.S. Midwest sparked buying and fund short-covering. Soybeans followed corn higher, although gains were restrained by lower-than-expected weekly export sales data and concerns about trade […] Read more
China stops buying Canadian canola
Reading Time: 2 minutes China has stopped buying any Canadian canola, says Canola Council of Canada president Jim Everson. “The Chinese are unwilling to purchase Canadian canola (from any company) at this time,” he said Thursday. “Trade that was executed earlier is continuing. New sales are what appears to be affected.” Earlier this month China blocked canola imports from […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Hogs limit up on China swine virus fears
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange lean hog futures soared by the company’s daily price limit to new contract highs on Wednesday on increasing worries about the spread of a deadly hog disease in China. Traders expect that China, the world’s biggest hog producer and pork consumer, will need to import more U.S. pork […] Read more
ICE weekly outlook: Little to sustain canola bids in bear market
Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — Although there will be some bounces in ICE canola futures, there is very little currently to sustain any increases in bids, according to Errol Anderson of ProMarket Communications. While the market has stabilized for the time being, it’s technically oversold, Anderson said. The market can rebound $5-$10 per tonne, he said, but it’s […] Read more
CBOT weekly outlook: African swine fever paralyzes futures
Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm — Ahead of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s next crop report due out March 29, market experts are looking to headlines for direction in the Chicago futures. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin return to China next week, with the goal of hammering out a trade deal in weeks to […] Read more
U.S. grains: Wheat ends higher on weather worries
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — U.S. wheat futures rose nearly two per cent on Wednesday on poor weather in the Midwest soft winter wheat belt and the northern Plains spring wheat region, traders said. Soybean and corn futures closed modestly higher. Chicago Board of Trade May soft red winter wheat settled up 8-1/4 cents at $4.64-3/4 […] Read more
Piles of pigs: Swine fever outbreaks go unreported in rural China
Reading Time: 6 minutes Baoding, China | Reuters — When pigs on the Xinda Husbandry breeding farm in northern China began dying in growing numbers in early January, it looked increasingly likely that the farm had been struck by the much feared African swine fever, an incurable disease that has spread rapidly across the country since last year. But […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Live cattle hit contract highs on weather woes
Reading Time: < 1 minute Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures rose Tuesday, with the benchmark June contract hitting a high as poor feedlot conditions in portions of the U.S. Plains raised concerns about beef supplies, traders said. Lean hogs closed lower in a profit-taking setback from contract highs set a day earlier. Fat cattle futures […] Read more
U.S. grains: Corn, wheat drift lower on weak export demand
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — U.S. corn and wheat futures closed nearly unchanged on Tuesday, with commodity funds reluctant to add to a heavy net short position despite pressure from slowing export demand for U.S. grains, analysts said. Soybean futures declined as traders awaited news from ongoing U.S. trade negotiations with China, the world’s top soybean […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
