LIVESTOCK HIGHLIGHTS: Top Stories of the Day
November 24 2020 - 5:42PM
Dow Jones News
TOP STORIES
Hormel Foods 4Q Profit Damped by Food-Service Slump
Hormel Foods Corp. Tuesday recorded a smaller profit in its
fiscal fourth quarter as a shrinking food-service sector during the
coronavirus pandemic dragged against sales for several of the
company's product lines.
The Austin, Minn.-based food and meat producer logged a profit
of $234.4 million, or 43 cents a share, in the three months ended
Oct. 25, compared with a profit of $255.5 million, or 47 cents a
share, in the same three-month period a year earlier.
STORIES OF INTEREST
Agricultural Commodities to Rise in 2021 -- Market Talk
0914 GMT - Agricultural commodity markets are set to begin 2021
with high prices and a range of factors that are likely to see
prices hike further, according to Rabobank's annual outlook report.
"The fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic, which saw countries across
the world stockpile goods, along with expected poor harvests due to
dry weather conditions, are set to increase agri-commodity prices."
It forecasts the strongest upside potential in soybeans, corn and
wheat. However, Stefan Vogel, global strategist and head of
agri-commodity markets at Rabobank notes that 2021 does bring its
own risks. Even with rising hopes for a vaccine, Covid-19 remains a
risk that is difficult to predict, while La NiƱa has the potential
to hit crop yields across the world, he says.
(lucy.craymer@wsj.com)
FUTURES MARKETS
Lean Hog Futures Sink After Yesterday's Uptick -- Market
Talk
15:55 ET - Lean hog futures trading on the CME closed down 0.6%,
to 66.75 cents per pound. The decline in the hogs contract comes
despite the USDA data showing a drop in the amount of US pork held
in US cold storage. Pork in cold storage totaled 448.2 million
pounds at the end of October, down from 612 million pounds in 2019.
Pork bellies had the greatest decline, going from 45.4 million
pounds a year ago to just 19.7 million pounds at the end of
October. Even so, traders remain nervous about continued strong
export demand. "How long this demand will last is questionable as
China continues to rebuild its domestic hog herd," says Karl Setzer
of AgriVisor. Live cattle futures finished up 0.9% at $1.1395 per
pound. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com; @kirkmaltais)
CASH MARKETS
Estimated U.S. Pork Packer Margin Index - Nov 24
All figures are on a per-head basis.
Date Standard Margin Estimated margin
Operating Index at vertically -
integrated operations
Nov 24 +$ 35.54 +$ 37.73
Nov 23 +$ 35.11 +$ 38.14
Nov 20 +$ 34.29 +$ 38.25
* 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 104.7
(Percent of Year-Ago) Select 103.7
USDA Boxed Beef, Pork Reports
Wholesale choice-grade beef prices Tuesday rose $2.70 per
hundred pounds, to $244.30, according to the USDA. Select-grade
prices rose $2.23 per hundred pounds, to $219.71. The total load
count was 161. Wholesale pork prices fell 19 cents, to $76.62 a
hundred pounds, based on Omaha, Neb., price quotes.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 24, 2020 17:27 ET (22:27 GMT)
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