Jan 25 2016

Texas Daily Ag Market News Summary 1/25/16 Posted 8 years 98 days ago by

Feeder cattle auctions prices steady to $8 higher; Futures higher.
Fed cattle cash trade inactive; Formula trades higher; Futures lower; Beef prices lower.
Cotton lower.
Grains and soybeans higher.
Crude oil lower; Natural gas higher.
Stock markets lower.

Texas feeder cattle auctions reported prices steady to $8 higher. Feeder cattle futures were $0.80 higher, closing at $160.22 per hundredweight (cwt). The Texas fed cattle cash trade was inactive today. Whole sale boxed beef values were lower with choice grade losing $1.04 to close at $223.7 per cwt; select grade lost $1.74 to close at $218.94 per cwt. Fed cattle futures were $0.65 lower, closing at $131.42 per cwt. Estimated cattle harvest for the week totaled 112,000 head, up 5,000 from last week and down 1,000 from last year’s total. 

Cotton cash prices were lower, losing 0.50 cent to close at 60.50 cents per pound; March futures were lower losing 0.85 cents to close at 61.60 cents per pound.

Corn prices were lower with cash price losing $0.01 to close at $3.75 per bushel; March futures prices were steady closing at $3.70 per bushel. Grain sorghum prices were lower, losing $0.01 to close at $5.71 per cwt.

Wheat prices were higher with cash price gaining $0.03 to close at $3.89 per bushel; March futures prices higher $0.03 to close at $4.74 per bushel.

Stock markets were lower today, as a drop in oil prices affected the market. Crude oil prices were lower losing, $1.850 to close at $30.34 per barrel.

Daily Market Summary Data 01/25/16

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From Agri-Pulse:

WASHINGTON, Jan. 25, 2016 - A new report says that while all member countries of the Trans-Pacific Partnership stand to benefit from the trade agreement, the U.S. has the most to gain.

The report from the Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE) says the agreement will increase “annual real incomes” in the U.S. by $131 billion by 2030. Global figures for that same time frame show an increase of about $492 billion with sizable gains also projected for Japan, Malaysia and Vietnam.

The report says the TPP agreement, which was completed last October after years of negotiations, “appears to have met its two most important negotiating objectives,” benefiting member countries economically and developing rules for economic integration. However, the report also notes that the agreement “reflects inevitable compromises” among the 12 Pacific Rim countries at the negotiating table.

Founded in 1981, the PIIE is a nonprofit, nonpartisan group dedicated to the study of international policy. Since its founding, the group has weighed in on variety of issues ranging from necessary reforms of the International Monetary Fund to the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Agriculturally speaking, the report notes that exports will “rise more than imports” in “primary” goods, a classification that includes agricultural products. However, it points out that export gains among primary goods will be smaller “because this sector is small in the first place and because its products are often exported in processed form as food, beverages, chemicals, and other raw-materials based products.

“Given the scope and complexity of topics addressed, the diversity of the negotiating parties, and the backdrop of inaction on urgent trade issues, the TPP is a notable accomplishment,” the report concluded. “It is a substantial positive response to slowing world trade growth and rising trade barriers, and a major contribution toward a rules-based global economy.”

Chris Wyant, the executive director of the Progressive Coalition for American Jobs, said the study “makes clear” that “the TPP is the most progressive trade agreement in history and contains benefits for American agricultural and manufacturing exports while supporting thousands of higher-paying, middle-class jobs."

Opponents of the deal, who range from the most liberal of Democrats to the most conservative of Republicans, say TPP will only serve to create a more sizable trade deficit by offering smoother access to U.S. markets for foreign competitors. The National Farmers Union and Roger Johnson, the group's president, have led agricultural opposition to the agreement. Earlier this month, his written testimony to the U.S. International Trade Commission said the deal comes up short.

“TPP contains no enforceable measures to address the persistently increasing U.S. trade deficit or currency manipulation and will likely lead to the same negative overall outcomes of previous trade agreements,” he said. 

Opposition to the deal in the U.S. and election year complications have led some to speculate that Congress won't vote on the agreement until the lame duck session following the election, or possibly not until 2017. The Peterson report notes that delaying TPP approval by one year “would represent a $77 billion permanent loss.” Aside from that figure, the report also says the U.S. could forfeit gains that compound over time as well as become vulnerable to other trade agreements in the region.

Ministerial representatives from the TPP countries are scheduled to formally sign the pact in Auckland, New Zealand, on Feb. 4.

 As trade advocates push for the ratification of this deal with Pacific trading partners, U.S. trade officials are traveling to Brussels, Belgium, today for another round of talks with the European Union on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (T-TIP). Ambassador Darci Vetter, the chief agricultural negotiator with the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, is among the U.S. delegation.