By Gavin Maguire CHICAGO, Jan 10 – U.S. wheat traders will have to navigate heavy cross currents in 2014 as a relatively bullish domestic balance sheet gets offset by an increasingly bearish global production outlook. On the one hand, market bulls can take heart from the fact that brisk export sales coupled with declining inventories […] Read more
Stories by Reuters News Service
USDA announces US corn, wheat, soybean export sales
WASHINGTON, Jan 10 (Reuters) – Private exporters reported the sale of 216,000 tonnes of U.S. soybeans to China for the 2014/15 marketing year, the U.S. Agriculture Department said on Friday. The sale was the fourth to China – the world’s largest soybean importer – announced by USDA this week. The 2014/15 marketing year for soybeans […] Read more
China reports one more H7N9 bird flu death
BEIJING, Jan 10 (Reuters) – China reported one more death from the H7N9 strain of bird flu in eastern Fujian province, state news agency Xinhua said on Friday. A 38-year-old man from Quanzhou city died after being found infected earlier on Friday, Xinhua said, citing the province’s health and family planning commission. Xinhua said this […] Read more
New record beef price but cattle futures end mixed, hogs down
By Theopolis Waters CHICAGO, Jan 9 (Reuters) – Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures settled mixed on Thursday, drawing support from record-high beef prices as profit taking weighed, traders said. February live cattle closed up 0.025 cent per lb at 136.550 cents, and April finished down 0.100 cent at 136.875 cents. “Had it not been […] Read more
U.S. Weather Forecaster Says No Active El Nino Through Summer 2014
NEW YORK (Reuters) — U.S. weather forecaster Climate Prediction Center said on Thursday that it maintains its forecast for neutral El Nino and La Nina conditions in the Northern Hemisphere through summer 2014. In its monthly report, the CPC said that while current forecast probabilities are still greatest for neutral El Nino conditions during the […] Read more
Fatal pig virus now affects 22 U.S. states: USDA
(Reuters) — California and Wyoming are the latest U.S. states to report confirmed cases of a deadly pig virus, bringing the number of states affected to 22, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said on Thursday. Porcine Epidemic Diarrhea virus (PEDv), which causes diarrhea, vomiting and severe dehydration in hogs, has spread quickly across the U.S. […] Read more
More U.S. corn exports switched from China to Japan, South Korea: USDA
(Reuters) — More U.S. corn initially sold to China has been diverted to neighbouring Asian markets, according to U.S. government data on Thursday, as Beijing continues to stringently test for an unapproved genetically modified strain that has already triggered numerous rejections. Beijing has rejected at least 600,000 tonnes of U.S. corn and corn products since […] Read more
Soybeans set to play catch up with corn in 2014 – COLUMN
By Gavin Maguire CHICAGO, Jan 9 – The main narrative of the crop arena in 2013 was the steep slump in corn prices over the second half of the year as a large rebound in U.S. corn production helped replenish global stockpiles. In contrast, soybean prices managed to hold relatively firm, and ended the year […] Read more
Agrium plans to restructure into two business units
(Reuters) — Canadian fertilizer company Agrium Inc. said on Wednesday it will restructure its three divisions into two business units, wholesale and retail, in the first quarter of 2014 as it moves to become more efficient. Following a recently completed strategic review of its Agrium Advanced Technologies business unit, Agrium said it decided to transfer […] Read more
Cargill second quarter earnings rise on big U.S. harvest
CHICAGO (Reuters) — U.S. agribusiness giant Cargill Inc. on Thursday reported a 36 percent rise in quarterly profits, supported by a bigger U.S. crop harvest in 2013 that led to lower grain prices and improved meat margins. Minneapolis-based Cargill, a top global commodities trader, reported net earnings of $556 million for the second quarter ended […] Read more
