LIVESTOCK HIGHLIGHTS: Top Stories of the Day
January 17 2018 - 5:58PM
Dow Jones News
TOP STORIES
Cargill Pushes Further into Plant-Based Foods -- Market Talk
10:25 ET - Cargill, one of the world's largest meat producers,
is upping its bet on plant-based meat alternatives and other
vegetarian-friendly foods. The agricultural conglomerate enters a
joint venture with Puris, a developer of pea-based protein
ingredients used to make meat alternatives, snack bars and vegan
spreads. Cargill's backing will help Puris open a second
manufacturing plant, the companies say, and it follows Cargill's
investment last year in cell-cultured meat startup Memphis Meats.
The investments are part of Cargill's effort to capture growth in
alternatives to conventional meat, which are expanding as advancing
technologies make it easier to replicate the taste and texture of
cattle, hog and chicken flesh. (jacob.bunge@wsj.com;
@jacobbunge)
Chipotle Price Hikes Could Hurt Traffic -- Market Talk
10:05 ET - Chipotle this week raised menu prices by 5%-7% in
markets where it didn't raise prices last year, bringing the total
percentage of restaurants with higher prices now to about 75%. Some
analysts say the price hikes will help protect the chain's margins
as it faces higher labor and commodity costs. But they also warn
that it could turn off customers who can easily find deals
elsewhere. The price increases come at a tricky time for a company
that is trying to recover lost sales. Baird notes that the higher
prices "could lead to some consumer pushback at a stage when the
company is attempting to rebuild traffic volumes."
(julie.jargon@wsj.com)
STORIES OF INTEREST
Boparan Bond Spreads Back to Pre-Chicken Plant Investigation
Levels -- Market Talk
1521 GMT - Spreads on Boparan's 5.5% 2021 sterling bonds are
back below levels last seen before a Guardian/ITV investigation on
conditions at one of the company's chicken plants broke out last
September. Wednesday's tightening is courtesy of the announcement
of pizza asset sales. Bid spreads on the bond tighten around 90
basis points to 567.7 bps. They stood at 577.9 bps right before the
investigation was made public and briefly surpassed 1,000 bps in
mid-November, according to Tradeweb data. (tasos.vossos@wsj.com;
@tasosvos)
FUTURES MARKETS
Cattle Futures Rally on Steadying Cash Trade
Cattle futures leaped just short of a two-week high as
physical-cattle prices showed signs of stabilizing.
Cash prices for slaughter-ready cattle have trended lower in
2018. But meatpackers at a closely watched online auction Wednesday
morning paid steady money from a week earlier, suggesting to some
traders that prices were bottoming.
Packers at the Fed Cattle Exchange auction bought a little over
100 head of cattle from Texas, around a third of what was listed
for sale, at $119.75 per 100 pounds. Cash sales over the course of
last week averaged $119.94 on a live basis, according to the U.S.
Department of Agriculture.
CME February lean hog contracts slid 1.6% to 72.725 cents a
pound, falling from Tuesday's multimonth highs.
CASH MARKETS
Zumbrota, Minn Hog $1.00 Higher $44.00 - Jan 17
Barrow and gilt prices at the Zumbrota, Minn., livestock market
today are $1.00 higher at $44.00 per hundredweight.
Sow prices are $3.00-$6.00 higher. Sows weighing 400-450 pounds
are at $37.00, 450-500 pounds are $37.00 and those over 500 pounds
are $39.00-$41.00.
The day's total run is estimated at 200 head.
Prices are provided by the Central Livestock Association.
Estimated U.S. Pork Packer Margin Index - Jan 17
All figures are on a per-head basis.
Date Standard Margin Estimated margin
Operating Index at vertically -
integrated operations
*
Jan 17 +$16.04 +$41.23
Jan 16 +$14.99 +$40.93
Jan 15 +$15.50 +$41.83
* 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 107.1
(Percent of Year-Ago) Select 106.6
USDA Boxed Beef, Pork Reports
Wholesale choice-grade beef prices Wednesday fell 28 cents per
hundred pounds, to $205.30, according to the USDA. Select-grade
prices fell 28 cents per hundred pounds, to $199.61. The total load
count was 126. Wholesale pork prices rose 14 cents, to $79.58 a
hundred pounds, based on Omaha, Neb., price quotes.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 17, 2018 17:43 ET (22:43 GMT)
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