Texas Daily Ag Market News Summary 03/18/16

Posted 8 years 254 days ago by

Feeder cattle auctions reported prices $2 to $7 higher; Futures lower.

Fed cattle cash trade active; Formula trades lower; Futures lower; Beef prices lower.

Cotton lower.

Grains and soybeans lower.

Milk futures steady.

Crude oil lower; Natural gas lower.

Stock markets higher.

Texas feeder cattle auctions reported prices $2 to $7 higher, Texas Weekly Direct reported prices $3 to $5 higher. Feeder cattle futures were $0.50 lower, closing at $163.22 per hundredweight (cwt). The Texas fed cattle cash trade was active today closing at $140.00 per cwt. Whole sale boxed beef values were lower with choice grade losing $2.83 to close at $231.81 per cwt and select grade losing $0.64 to close at $222.33 per cwt. Fed cattle futures were $1.33 lower, closing at $139.82 per cwt. Estimated cattle harvest for the week totaled 535,000 head up 8,000 from last week and 18,000 from last year’s total. For the time period March 4-10 exporters reported that net sales totaled 14,400 metric tons (MT) for 2016 and were up 82 percent from the previous week and 51 percent from the prior four-week average. Increases were reported for Japan, South Korea and Mexico. Exports totaled 11,600 MT and were up one percent from the previous week and six percent from the prior four-week average. The primary destinations were Japan, South Korea and Hong Kong.

Cotton prices were lower with cash prices losing 0.25 cents to close at 55.37 cents per pound; May futures dropped 1.20 cents to close at 57.16 cents per pound. Net upland sales totaled 224,900 round bales (RB) for 2015/2016 and were up 22 percent from the previous week and 16 percent from the prior four-week average. Increases were reported for Vietnam, Turkey and Bangladesh. Exports totaled 175,800 RB and were down 30 percent from the previous week and ten percent from the prior four-week average. The primary destinations were Turkey, Vietnam and China.

Corn prices were lower with cash and futures prices both losing $0.02 to close at $3.69 and $3.67 per bushel, respectively. Net sales totaled 1,227,000 MT for 2015/2016 and were up five percent from the previous week and 17 percent from the prior four-week average. Increases were reported for Japan, Mexico and the Dominican Republic. Exports totaled 873,900 MT and were down 17 percent from the previous week, but up four percent from the prior four-week average. The primary destinations were Mexico, Japan and Colombia. Grain Sorghum cash prices were lower, losing $0.02 to close at $5.30 per cwt.

Wheat prices were mixed with cash prices remaining at $3.95 per bushel; May wheat futures dropped $0.01 to close at $4.70 per bushel. Net sales totaled 212,900 MT for delivery in marketing year 2015/2016 and were down 36 percent from the previous week and 35 percent from the prior four-week average. Increases were reported for China, the Philippines and Indonesia. Exports totaled 416,200 MT and were unchanged from the previous week, but up 21 percent from the prior four-week average. The primary destinations were the Philippines, Nigeria and Thailand.

Milk prices were steady with Class III Milk futures remaining at $13.83 per cwt.

Stock markets were higher today, marking the fifth straight week of positive gains for the major indexes. Crude oil prices were lower, losing $0.76 to close at $39.44 per barrel.

Daily Market Summary Data 03/18/16

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