Texas Daily Ag Market Summary 8/15/14

Posted 10 years 105 days ago by

Feeder cattle mostly $3-$12 lower, few steady; futures higher.
Fed cattle cash trade inactive; formula trades $4 lower; futures higher; beef prices lower.
Cotton lower.
Grains and soybeans higher; soybean meal sharply higher.
Crude oil lower; natural gas higher.
Stock markets higher.

Texas feeder cattle auctions quoted prices mostly $3-$12 lower per cwt as the slide in futures over the previous few days took their toll on auctions . A couple of locations were steady on at least part of their offerings, but those were definitely the exceptions. Futures did manage to post a modest gain yesterday, which might put auction prices on a little more solid footing heading into the weekend. The fed cattle cash trade remained inactive in Texas, though a few sales in the north were several dollars below last week’s average. Reports said trade pretty much ground to a halt as traders started turning down lower bids. Wholesale beef values were lower yesterday. Estimated cattle harvest through Thursday totaled 459,000 head, up 5K from last week, but 21K lower than a year ago. Fed cattle futures turned higher as buying interest picked up a little following recent declines. Beef export sales for the week of 9,400 metric tons (MT) were down 21% from the previous week and down 23% from the prior four-week average. South Korea, Hong Kong and Japan were the primary buyers. Export shipments totaling 14,000 MT were down 6% from a week earlier, but up 2% from a year ago. Japan, Hong Kong and Mexico were the leading destinations.

Cotton prices were lower yesterday as markets continued to adjust to the USDA production and supply/demand numbers released earlier in the week. Export data also came in on the low end of expectations. Cotton export sales for the first full week of the 2014/15 marketing year totaled 176,400 bales, primarily for Turkey, China and Thailand. Exports shipments were 94,500 bales, with China, Turkey and Mexico the top destinations.

Wheat prices were higher on Thursday mostly due to spillover support from soybeans. Export data were market-neutral with lower sales, but higher shipments. Wheat export sales of 338,700 MT were down 43% from the previous week and 37% from the prior four-week average. The top buyers were unknown destinations, Brazil and Mexico. Exports totaled 501,300 MT, up 21% from a week earlier and 11% higher than the average. Mexico, the Philippines and Taiwan were the primary destinations.

Corn and grain sorghum prices also followed soybeans higher. Corn Belt weather forecasts included a chance of beneficial rains and export data were bearish. Corn old-crop export sales were a net negative 117,100 MT as cancellations outweighed new sales, compared to 120,900 MT last week and 290,000 MT on average. Unknown destinations, Columbia and Morocco had the largest cancellations. New crop sales for the 2014/15 marketing year of 787,800 MT were up 4% from the previous week, but 10% lower than the prior four-week average Columbia, unknown destinations and Mexico were the leading buyers. Shipments of 721,800 MT were down 33% from the previous week and 25% from the previous four-week average. Mexico, South Korea and Japan were the top destinations.

Stock markets closed higher yesterday following a round a mixed economic data. The Labor Department reported that new unemployment claims last week totaled 311,000, much higher than pre-report expectations for an increase to 295,000. The Commerce Department reported that export prices were unchanged last month, compared to expectations for a slight decrease. Import prices declined as expected. A news wire consumer sentiment index was higher than a month ago.

Disclaimer: The information compiled in the Daily Market Summary is obtained from a variety of sources, including those available on the Internet, that are believed to be reliable and accurate, but are in no way guaranteed. This information is intended to provide only a summary of market trends and a daily snapshot of agricultural markets and economic indicators. It should not be relied upon as a sole source of market information. Commentary is the author’s alone and does not in any way convey official TDA policies.