Markets
D’Arce McMillan, The Western Producer markets editor, monitors trends in the North American and global agricultural markets. Each week he hosts a market video about crops. The video is designed to help viewers understand the forces responsible for changes in the trade. If agricultural markets are important to you, we have you covered.
Markets
Hogs end mixed on profit-taking after 3-month high
CHICAGO, May 17 (Reuters) – U.S. lean hog futures jumped to the highest levels in three months on Wednesday, rising alongside wholesale pork prices before some hog contracts turned lower on profit-taking, traders and analysts said. Chicago Mercantile Exchange cattle futures were mostly higher, buoyed by expectations that U.S. consumers will buy more meat for […] Read more
CME hog futures hit 3-month high; live cattle 5-week low
CHICAGO, May 16 (Reuters) – Chicago Mercantile Exchange lean hog futures on Tuesday reached their highest level since mid-February, fueled by strong cash and wholesale pork prices, traders said. June futures led gainers after investors bought that contract and sold deferred months, prompted by bullish market fundamentals, traders said. June closed 1.475 cents per pound […] Read more
Cattle ease 2 pct in technical selloff; hog prices mixed
CHICAGO, May 15 (Reuters) – U.S. cattle futures eased on Monday, with live cattle shedding 2 percent and feeders dropping for the fourth time in the last five sessions in a technical selloff, traders and analysts said. Investors continued to take profits on long positions as cattle declined from their more than one-year highs on […] Read more
Friday wrap: canola rises, demand is still good
Canola futures closed the week on an up note, helping to pull the contracts almost even with where they were the previous Friday. Canola’s strength today came from a weaker loonie and concern about weekend rain on the Prairies slowing seeding pace. CLICK HERE FOR OUR WEEKLY CROP MARKET ANALYSIS VIDEO Also soybean oil rose […] Read more
Cattle futures rise as U.S.-China trade agreement impacts meats, natural gas
May 12 (Reuters) – The United States and China have agreed to take action to expand bilateral trade in beef and chicken as well as taking other steps as part of Washington’s drive to narrow the U.S. trade deficit with China. The August live cattle contract closed up more than two percent on the news, […] Read more
Grain price still too high, says Bunge head
Huge stockpiles will eventually force prices down, causing growers to reduce acres, says Bunge official
The head of one of the world’s largest grain companies believes grains and oilseeds are overpriced and a day of reckoning lies ahead. Soren Schroder, chief executive officer of Bunge Ltd., recently told investment analysts that corn and soybean prices have not reflected the global glut of the commodities. “For some reason markets have been […] Read more
World needs to slash crop acres to cut grain surplus
WASHINGTON, D.C. — What will it take to drain the oceans of crop stocks that are drowning world crop prices? And how weird is it to see world crop stocks surge so much after the drought-induced shortfalls of 2012? “I don’t know how long it has been since we had four record years stack up back […] Read more
Excess capacity will keep phosphate prices stable
Phosphate prices are likely to stay where they are as one major supplier of the product reduces exports at a time when two others are increasing world supplies. James O’Rourke, president of Mosaic Co., the world’s largest producer of the product, recently told investment analysts to expect reduced sales from China this year. “With economic […] Read more
Kansas crop tour sees good wheat before snow
MANHATTAN, Kan. (Reuters) — Wheat fields in Kansas, the top U.S. producer of the grain, were above average as crops benefited from good soil moisture, scouts on the annual Wheat Quality Council crop tour said May 4. However, scouts were unable to assess how late-season snow that fell over the weekend in the western part […] Read more
