Friday's Closing Grain and Livestock Futures
Sep. corn closed at $5.45 and 1/2, down 15 and 1/4 cents
Aug. soybeans closed at $14.29, down 43 cents
Aug. soybean meal closed at $442.90, down $15.10
Aug. soybean oil closed at 46.22, down 31 points
Sep. wheat closed at $6.81, down 2 cents
Aug. live cattle closed at $121.87, down 7 cents
Jul. lean hogs closed at $102.10, up 7 cents
Aug. crude oil closed at $105.95, up $1.04
Oct. cotton closed at 85.13, down 5 points
Jul. Class III milk closed at $17.36, down 2 cents
Jul. gold closed at $1,277.80, down $2.30
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 15,464.30, up 3.38 points
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Market News and ReCap
Soybeans were lower on fund selling, profit taking, and the higher dollar. The trade remains concerned about the slow pace of development, but they also expect a big crop and a solid increase in supply, and longer term weather outlooks are generally good. In any event, there was no fresh fundamental news. Soybean meal and oil were down, following beans. The National Oilseed Processors Association’s June member crush report is out Monday, with the average estimate of 115.4 million bushels.
Corn was lower on profit taking, fund selling, and spillover from the dollar. Corn’s also focused on expectations for a fairly large crop and big year to year increase in ending stocks. There are development concerns, but that longer term weather forecast was a bearish factor Friday. China bought 960,000 tons of 2013/14 U.S. corn. Ethanol futures were lower.
The wheat complex was mixed in end of the week consolidation trade. There was no real fresh news and the dollar was up, eliminating the early gains in the complex. Chicago in particular was encouraged by USDA raising China’s wheat import estimate and there’s talk of new demand, but no new news. Soft red winter harvest conditions are expected to improve and spring wheat development weather is looking a little better. European wheat was lower. Dow Jones Newswires reports the hard red winter cash basis at the Texas Gulf was strong Friday due to limited supplies. China’s National Bureau of Statistics states winter wheat production was 115.67 million tons, an increase of 1.3% from 2012. Japan issued a sell-buy-sell tender for 25,000 tons of food wheat and 7,000 tons of food barley.
A light to moderate cattle trade developed in most areas on Friday afternoon. Live sales in the South were fully steady at 119.00. Most of the dressed trade in the North was at 193.00 about 1.00 lower than last week’s weighted average basis Nebraska. Such a regional difference in price change may be tied to the fact that last week saw the South lose a 1.00 while the North held about steady. The weekly cattle slaughter at 640,000 head is 81,000 more than the previous week, but 5,000 smaller than 2012.
Boxed beef cutout values were lower on light to moderate demand and moderate to heavy offerings. Choice boxed beef was down 1.19 at 191.53 and select was 1.04 lower at 183.67.
Live cattle contracts on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange settled 7 to 35 points lower. The reluctance of feedlot cash to develop seemed to wear on cattle futures. Further weakness in the wholesale beef trade did not make it any easier to imagine a country trade no worse than steady. The October contract was down the most attacked by both spreaders and commercials. August settled .07 lower at 121.85, and October was .35 lower at 126.07.
Feeder cattle ended the session 35 higher to 35 lower. Traders were torn between spillover selling from the live pit and a late week sell-off in the corn market. August settled unchanged at 150.12, and September was .17 higher at 152.72.
Feeder cattle receipts at Missouri auctions totaled 23,238 head. Compared to the previous week, feeder steers and heifers sold steady to 5.00 higher. Several local auctions quoted trends nearly double that as prices had to make up for two weeks of gains in the market after being closed for the holiday. The supply was light to moderate, with many of the Northern sale barns being closed as they ran a reduced sale schedule in the summer. Feeder steers, medium and large 1 averaging 672 pounds traded at 150.50 per hundredweight. 674 pound heifers brought 137.67 on average at Missouri auctions.
Lean hog futures settled 5 to 37 points lower. Floor sources blame selling on technical considerations, a stronger dollar, and a shaky pork trade. Carcass value stabilized at midday with decent appreciation in processing cuts overshadowing significant weakness in fresh items. July was up .07 at 102.10, and August was down .37 at 94.90.
Barrows and gilts in the Iowa/Minnesota direct trade closed 2.55 higher at 100.91 on the carcass basis, the West was up 3.09 at 100.78, and the East was .88 lower at 96.01. Missouri direct base carcass meat price was steady from 92.00 to 96.00. Terminal hogs were steady with an instance of 2.00 lower from 63.00 to 68.00.
The pork carcass cutout value closed .73 higher at 101.48 FOB plant on a negotiated basis.
Net pork export sales totaled no more than 6,420 MT, roughly half of the previous four-week average and the smallest round of new business since weekly reporting began in late March.
The weekly hog slaughter at 2,038,000 head is 248,000 more than the holiday week, and 78,000 greater than last year.
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