Tuesday's Closing Grain and Livestock Futures Prices
Dec. corn closed at $4.27 and 1/2, down 1 cent
Jan. soybeans closed at $13.38 and 1/4, down 5 and 1/2 cents
Dec. soybean meal closed at $464.10, up $2.50
Dec. soybean oil closed at 39.91, down 14 points
Dec. wheat closed at $6.29 and 1/2, down 9 and 1/2 cents
Dec. live cattle closed at $131.67, up 7 cents
Dec. lean hogs closed at $80.82, down 55 cents
Jan. crude oil closed at $98.51, up $1.17
Mar. cotton closed at 80.69, up 33 points
Dec. Class III milk closed at $19.09, down 2 cents
Dec. gold closed at $1,262.40, up $27.10
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 15,973.13, down 52.40 points
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Market News Recap
Soybeans were lower on fund and technical selling. USDA sees soybean ending stocks at 150 million bushels, compared to 170 million last month on good export and crush demand. Still, buying interest was limited by the expected record U.S. crop and USDA raised the production guess for Argentina. Definitely worth noting that USDA did not adjust the production estimate for Brazil, the export numbers for Argentina or Brazil, or the Chinese import estimate. AgRural reports 94% of Brazil’s soybean crop is planted. Soybean meal was mostly lower and bean oil was down, with both responding to the USDA numbers.
Corn was lower on technical and fund selling. USDA has corn ending stocks at 1.792 billion bushels, down nearly 100 million on the month thanks to bigger food, ethanol, and export use. However, USDA does expect a record crop this year and there are uncertainties about long term ethanol demand connected to the Renewable Fuels Standard. Ethanol futures were lower.
The wheat complex was lower on fund and technical selling. U.S. ending stocks were up on the month at 575 million bushels when traders were expecting a decline. World wheat ending stocks were above November with larger production guesses for Australia and Canada. Japan bought 111,200 tons of Canadian western red spring, out of a tender of 162,000 tons, citing limited export capacity.
It was a typical Tuesday in cattle country with the cash trade very quiet. Significant trade could be delayed again until late in the week. Some of the showlists have been priced around 134.00 in the South and 210.00 to 212.00 in the North. Though the new showlists are mixed, some larger in Texas, Nebraska and Colorado, and substantially smaller in Kansas, the overall supply of ready cattle appears to be tighter this week. USDA estimated the slaughter at 120,000 head, 1,000 smaller than last week and 8,000 below 2012.
Boxed beef cutout values were steady to weak on light demand and light to moderate offerings. Choice beef was down .38 at 202.12, select was down .11 at 188.01.
Live cattle contracts settled 7 points higher to 40 lower on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange on Tuesday. The weakness in hog futures and lack of additional direction from outside markets limited buyer interest. Boxed beef values were mixed at midday. December settled .07 higher at 131.67, and February was down .40 at 132.65.
Feeder cattle ended the session 2 to 40 points higher. Pressure in the market was directed by the softness in live futures however lower corn values were supportive to the market. January settled .40 higher at 165.55, and March was up .07 at 165.47.
Nebraska cattle auctions saw receipts of 22,706 head last week. Feeder steers weighing less than 500 pounds sold 3.00 to 7.00 higher and heifers weighing less than 500 pounds were 2.00 higher. Steers and heifers over 500 pounds trended steady to 3.00 lower with the most decline on bawling calves without preconditioning shots. 1629 feeder steers averaging 619 pounds traded at 183.13 per hundredweight. 245 replacement heifers with an average weight of 580 brought 190.72.
Lean hogs settled unchanged to 112 points lower. Losses developed through the lean pit with the lack of renewed direction in the complex erasing the support seen on Monday. The volatility once again pushed the markets into a tailspin that could draw additional movement through the rest of the week. December settled .55 lower at 80.82, and February was down 1.12 at 88.72.
Barrows and gilts in the Iowa/Minnesota direct trade closed 1.86 lower at 77.56 on a carcass basis, the West was down 1.56 at 77.46, and Eastern hogs were .62 lower at 77,76. Missouri direct base carcass meat price was steady from 71.00 to 75.00. Terminal hogs closed steady to an instance of 1.00 lower from 53.00 to 56.00 live.
The pork carcass value was down .59 at 91.65 FOB plant.
The past five weeks have seen pork production rise sharply, exceeding year-ago levels three times. Such increases are tied to significantly higher carcass weights, engineered by finishing floors short of numbers thanks to PED. Producers may not be able to compensate like this over the long haul, but they certainly seem to pull it off through the balance of the fourth quarter.
Tuesday’s hog slaughter was estimated at 436,000 head, 4,000 less than last week, but 6,000 greater than last year.
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