Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange lean hog futures crumbled to new life-of-contract lows on Thursday, before finishing mixed, on concerns about poor demand for U.S. pork, analysts said. The market has tanked since last week, with additional pressure stemming from weak cash prices and larger-than-expected supplies of hogs. The front-month contract is down […] Read more
U.S. livestock: CME hogs slide to new contract lows, finish mixed
April live cattle down, feeders up
AAFC supply/demand estimates mostly unchanged
Wheat exports up, but domestic usage cut
Reading Time: 2 minutes MarketsFarm –– Supply/demand estimates for Canadian crops were largely left unchanged in Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s (AAFC) latest projections, with only the wheat numbers seeing small adjustments in the report released Tuesday. Projected Canadian wheat exports for the 2022-23 marketing year were raised to 24.3 million tonnes, up by 200,000 from the February estimate. Domestic […] Read more
U.S. livestock: CME hogs fall to contract lows on demand worries
April cattle also down on day
Reading Time: 2 minutes Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange lean hog futures tumbled to contract lows again on Wednesday on concerns about lower demand, analysts said. Worries about the risk for a recession to reduce consumers’ meat purchases hung over livestock markets, particularly for expensive cuts, said Arlan Suderman, chief commodities economist for broker StoneX. Wheat and […] Read more
U.S. grains: Chicago corn turns higher
CBOT soy, wheat fall on long liquidation
Reading Time: 1 minute Mexico City | Reuters — Chicago corn futures turned higher Wednesday, and wheat and soy closed down, as technical trading and investor unease about the economy roiled agricultural commodity markets. Investors scrambled to liquidate long positions, traders said, even before the Federal Reserve raised interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point and indicated […] Read more
U.S. pushes back against Russian demands linked to Ukraine grain deal
Russian food, fertilizer already carved out from sanctions, U.S. says
Reading Time: 2 minutes United Nations | Reuters — The United States pushed back on Russian demands that Western sanctions be eased before it allows Ukrainian Black Sea grain exports beyond mid-May, saying there were no restrictions on Russian agricultural products or fertilizer. Moscow’s demands include allowing the Russian Agricultural Bank to return to the SWIFT banking system and […] Read more
USDA’s Indonesia desk predicts increased palm oil production
An El Nino event could weigh on that outlook
Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — Indonesia, the world’s largest producer of palm oil, is forecast to see a three per cent rise in production in 2023-24, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service post in Jakarta. The country’s USDA post anticipates 46 million tonnes of palm oil production, which would be up from 44.7 during […] Read more
Pulse weekly outlook: Steady world trade expected in 2023
IGC sees firmer demand for dry peas in particular
Reading Time: < 1 minute MarketsFarm — World trade in chickpeas and lentils is expected to remain relatively steady in 2023, with solid demand from South Asia underpinning markets, according to the latest outlook from the International Grains Council. The IGC sees the world trade in chickpeas in 2023 at about 1.9 million tonnes, which would be unchanged from 2022, […] Read more
U.S. grains: Chicago soy closes lower
Brazil production, Fed in focus for soy; wheat, corn still capped by Black Sea deal extension
Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — Chicago soy futures reversed gains to close lower on Tuesday, pushed down by rising estimates of Brazilian production, while corn and wheat dipped as markets kept a cautious eye on an expected Federal Reserve rate hike. Wheat and corn continue to be capped by the extension of a Black Sea export corridor from […] Read more
U.S. livestock: CME lean hogs hit contract lows on follow-through selling
Cattle futures edge upward
Reading Time: < 1 minute Chicago | Reuters –– Chicago Mercantile Exchange lean hog futures dropped to contract lows on Tuesday on follow-through and technical selling after recent slides, traders said. Front-month April lean hogs settled down 0.725 cent at 77.05 cents/lb. after hitting a contract low at 77 cents (all figures US$). The contract has lost 12 per cent […] Read more
U.S. livestock: June live cattle, hogs continue lower
Feeder cattle also down on day
Reading Time: < 1 minute Chicago Mercantile Exchange’s most-active June live cattle and lean hog contracts continued on a downward track in Monday’s trade. June live cattle closed Monday at $155.525, beneath the lower end of its 20-day Bollinger range and down 87.5 cents from Friday’s close (all figures US$ per hundredweight). Front-month April, meanwhile, opened near its 50-day moving […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
