Wednesday's Closing Grain & Livestock Futures Prices
May corn closed at $5.14, down 1 and 3/4 cents
May soybeans closed at $15.30 and 3/4, up 6 and 3/4 cents
May soybean meal closed at $509.90, up $4.00
May soybean oil closed at 41.88, down 89 points
May wheat closed at $7.13, up 5 cents
Apr. live cattle closed at $145.82, up 32 cents
Jun. lean hogs closed at $123.12, down $2.15
Jun. crude oil closed at $99.74, down $1.54
Jul. cotton closed at 94.29, up 23 points
May Class III milk closed at $22.55, up 7 cents
Jun. gold closed at $1,295.90, down 40 cents
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 16,580.84, up 45.47 points
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Market News Review
Soybeans were mostly lower on fund and technical selling. Except for the May, which was up due to no first day deliveries, contracts were down from Tuesday’s new contract high, but nothing’s changed fundamentally. The near term supply remains tight and demand continues to look very strong. Soybean meal was higher, with May above $500, and bean oil was lower, on the adjustment of product spreads. USDA’s weekly export sales report is out Thursday at 8:30 AM Eastern/7:30 AM Central. Old crop soybeans are placed at (-250,000) to 100,000 tons, with new crop at 200,000 to 450,000, old crop meal is seen at 50,000 to 190,000 tons, with new crop at 0 to 100,000, and old crop oil is pegged at 0 to 50,000 tons, with new crop at 0 to 20,000.
Corn was lower on fund and technical selling. There are more planting delays in the near term forecast, but the five day outlook is a little warmer and drier. Corn demand is solid, from both the domestic and the export sides of the market, limiting losses. Ethanol futures were lower. The EIA reports U.S. ethanol production for the week ending April 25 averaged 898,000 barrels per day, 12,000 per day less than the previous week. Ethanol stocks were up 4.2% on the week at 17.2 million barrels. Weekly old crop U.S. corn sales are estimated at 350,000 to 725,000 tons, with new crop at 150,000 to 625,000.
The wheat complex was higher, closing near multi-week highs on fund and speculative buying. The Kansas Crop Tour results are showing the impact of drought, even some winterkill, with no real relief in the forecast. Official results from the tour are out later this week, with the yield expected to be considerably below 2013. Also, spring planting in the Northern Plains is going slowly. Weekly old crop U.S. wheat sales are projected at 100,000 to 425,000 tons, with new crop at 200,000 to 450,000 tons. The 2014/15 marketing year for U.S. wheat starts June 1.
The cash cattle trade was at a virtual standstill on Wednesday afternoon with feedlot managers still waiting for the first bids of the week. Asking prices are around 147.00 to 148.00 in the South and 238.00 plus in the North. Significant trade volume will be delayed until Thursday or Friday. The cattle kill totaled 120,000 head, 5,000 more than last week, but 5,000 less than last year.
Boxed beef cutout values were lower on choice and higher on select with light to moderate demand and offerings. Choice beef was down 1.26 at 233.10 and select was up 1.87 at 222.29.
Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle contracts settled 40 points lower to 32 higher. The front month April contract expired at noon and drew some light buyer support in the late morning. Other nearby contracts ended with light to moderate pressure, with the focus on the deferred contract losses in the fourth quarter of the year. The April to June price spread continued to hold, which created uncertainty as to whether the cash values will follow current basis values with April off the board. This could create some increased uncertainty in the market over the next couple of weeks. April ended at 145.82 up .32 and June was .17 higher at 137.20.
Feeder cattle settled 62 to 95 points higher as buyers shook off the early morning jitters and stepped back into the complex. The focus on softer corn markets and the potential to draw support into the entire cattle complex due to upcoming summer demand firmed buyer support at the end of the month. May settled .62 higher at 181.20 and August was up .92 at 187.47.
Feeder cattle receipts at the Ozark’s Regional Stockyards at West Plains, MO totaled 2293 head on Tuesday. Compared to last week, feeder steers trended 5.00 to 10.00 higher with feeder heifers steady to 5.00 higher. Demand was good on a moderate supply. Feeder steers medium and large 1 averaging 568 pounds brought 221.38 per hundredweight. 524 pound heifers traded at an average of 205.44.
Lean hogs settled 10 to 260 points lower. There were triple digit losses in the nearby contracts, but moved off the session lows seen through most of the morning. The lightly traded May contract led the market lower, but moved away from limit down trade in the late morning. The lack of consistent supply demand information on the last day of April created the market uncertainty seen in the morning trade. May settled 2.60 lower at 117.67 and June was down 2.15 at 123.12.
There was moderate hog market activity with moderate demand on Wednesday. Iowa/Minnesota direct trade barrows and gilts were .86 higher at 111.91 weighted average on a carcass basis, the West was 1.00 higher at 111.85, but in the East the market was down .50 at 107.03. The Missouri direct base carcass meat price was steady at 102.00. Terminal hogs closed steady to 2.00 lower from 74.00 to 88.00.
The pork carcass cutout value in the afternoon report was .73 higher at 115.80 FOB plant.
Current projections peg this week’s hog slaughter total around 1.94 million head, possibly the slowest full-week chain speed since the late spring of 2010. Supplies should tighten seasonally now through July.
Wednesday’s hog kill was estimated at 411,000 head, 7,000 less than last week and down 5,000 from last year.
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