Monday's Closing Grain and Livestock Futures Prices.
May corn closed at $5.03, up 4 and 1/2 cents
May soybeans closed at $14.76 and 1/4, up 13 and 1/4 cents
May soybean meal closed at $479.10, up $6.20
May soybean oil closed at 42.26, up 16 points
May wheat closed at $6.78 and 3/4, up 18 and 1/2 cents
Apr. live cattle closed at $145.35, up 50 cents
Apr. lean hogs closed at $124.80, down 12 cents
May crude oil closed at $104.05, up 31 cents
May cotton closed at 90.91, up 189 points
Apr. Class III milk closed at $24.09, up 7 cents
May gold closed at $1,327.20, up $8.60
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 16,173.24, up 146.49 points
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Market News And Review:
Soybeans were higher on fund and commercial buying. Near term domestic supplies remain tight and the trade wants to keep prices relatively high to ration demand. Still, Brazil’s harvest is wrapping up and Argentina’s starting to pick up steam, and there are worries about more defaults by Chinese buyers. Soybean meal and oil were higher, following the lead of the other grain and oilseed commodities. The National Oilseed Processors Association’s March crush numbers are out Tuesday. On average, analysts expect member firms to have crushed 146.1 million bushels of beans with soybean oil stocks at 1.917 billion pounds.
Corn was higher on fund and technical buying. The recent precipitation has helped recharge soil moisture, but temperatures are cooler and some areas even got snow, which will delay planting. USDA reports that as of Sunday, 3% of the U.S. corn crop is planted, compared to 2% a year ago and 6% on average. Ethanol was mixed. Ukraine’s Ag Ministry reports that total grain exports since the start of the marketing year are just over 28 million tons, ahead of last year’s pace, with corn accounting for 17.972 million tons.
The wheat complex was higher on commercial and speculative buying. The trade is back to watching tensions around the Black Sea region and the potential for increased U.S. exports. For winter wheat, 34% of the crop is rated good to excellent, down 1% on week and 5% has headed, compared to 4% last year, and for spring wheat, 6% of the crop is planted, compared to 5% a year ago. According to Dow Jones Newswires, Egypt is going to have a smart-card system for subsidized bread in place by July. Over the weekend, Cairo picked up 230,000 tons of soft and/or milling wheat (120,000 tons from Romania and 55,000 tons each from Ukraine and Russia). According to Russia’s Ag Ministry, grain exports since the start of the marketing year July 1 are 21.488 million tons, 15.926 million tons of that wheat, and Ukraine’s Ag Ministry adds grain exports are 28.338 million tons, 7.932 million of that wheat. DTN reports Taiwan bought 92,600 tons of U.S. milling wheat and South Korea’s Nonghyup Feed Inc. purchased 65,000 tons of optional origin feed wheat.
The main item of business in cattle country on Monday was the distribution of the new showlists. This week’s offering of cattle is generally lower with the exception of Kansas which is showing more cattle for sale. Bids and asking prices are not well defined, private sources say some early asking prices are around 149.00 to 150.00 in the South and 242.00 plus in the North. The kill was estimated by USDA at 110,000 head, 5,000 less than last week and down 11,000 from last year.
Boxed beef cutout values were firm on choice and weak on select on moderate to fairly good demand and moderate offerings. Choice boxed beef was .40 higher at 222.52, and select was down .41 at 212.05.
Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle contracts settled10 to 50 points higher with only October lower. Movement in the live cattle futures was narrow and slow to develop as traders focused on the potential of firming beef values through the week based on upcoming demand growth. Traders looked for some support from traditional seasonal market rallies that could help to sustain current price levels. But futures closed off the day’s highs. April was up .50 at 145.35, and June was up .12 at 135.90.
Feeder cattle contracts settled 2 to 50 points higher. Overall volume in the complex was light, which allowed the traders to focus on both the outside markets direction as well as the recent stability in the live cattle complex. April settled .50 higher at 180.00 and May was up .35 at 180.32.
Feeder cattle receipts at the Oklahoma National Stockyards on Monday totaled 5500 head. Compared to last week, feeder cattle and calves opened steady with continued very good demand. Feeder steer calves, medium and large 1 weighing 500 to 600 pounds traded from 211.00 to 222.00 per hundredweight. 550 to 600 weight heifers brought 185.00 to 194.50.
Lean hog contracts settled 35 to 195 higher with the exception of the April contract that expired at noon at 124.80 down .12. Traders focused on the expiration of the front month contract and that allowed additional triple digit support to develop in the May through August contracts. The PEDv induced tight supplies has once again gained the attention of traders. But it is uncertain just how much follow through support this round of buying will instill given that very little new PED data has developed to quantify market tightness over the last couple of days, according to DTN analyst Rick Kment. May lean hogs settled 1.07 higher at 121.67 and June was up 1.42 at 122.65.
There was slow hog market activity with light demand on Monday afternoon. Barrows and gilts in the Iowa/Minnesota direct trade closed. 66 higher with a weighted average of 119.03 on a carcass basis. Western hogs were up .47 at 118.81 and the East was down 1.81 at 117.36. The Missouri direct base carcass meat price was steady from 116.00 to 117.00. Terminal hogs closed steady with an instance of 5.00 lower from 81.00 to 98.00.
The pork cutout value FOB plant was .35 lower in the afternoon report at 124.41.
Cash hog values erode as packers focus on slowing chain speed rather than to continue paying higher prices. Prices could continue to fall through the week with the expiration of April futures.
The Monday hog kill was estimated at 377,000 head, 27,000 less than last week and down 25,000 from last year.
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