Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures eased on Monday on profit-taking and technical selling, although losses were limited by firm wholesale beef prices and the discount of futures to cash prices, traders said. April live cattle closed down 0.425 cent/lb. to 115.55 cents, slipping below the contract’s 50-day moving average around […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Live cattle sink on technical selling
Barge glut chokes U.S. shipping sector despite record harvest
Chicago | Reuters — A glut of idled river barges is clogging Mississippi River shorelines from St. Louis to New Orleans, leaving U.S. barge companies that haul grain, coal and other bulk goods counting their losses. Even with record-large exports of corn and soybeans, typically a boon for shippers that haul grain to Gulf Coast […] Read more
Cargill profit jumps on meat demand, big U.S. crops
Reuters — Global commodities trader Cargill on Tuesday reported a sharply higher adjusted quarterly profit led by strong results from its beef and turkey businesses and robust demand for North American grain and oilseed crops. The privately held company said adjusted operating earnings jumped nearly 80 per cent in the second quarter ended Nov. 30 […] Read more
Monsanto shareholders back Bayer deal
Chicago | Reuters –– Shareholders of U.S. seeds and agrochemicals company Monsanto approved the company’s US$66 billion acquisition by Bayer on Tuesday, a deal that still requires regulatory approval to close as expected in late 2017. Increased research and development spending by the combined companies and plans to develop a global seeds and biotechnology hub […] Read more
ADM sells stake in Canada Malting owner GrainCorp
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. agricultural commodities trader Archer Daniels Midland has sold its 19.9 per cent stake in GrainCorp to underwriters UBS, just three years after a failed bid to wholly acquire the Australian grain handler, ADM said Thursday. The sale to the Swiss bank was valued at A$387 million (C$382 million), or A$8.53 […] Read more
U.S. grain exports slide after Trump win batters peso
Chicago | Reuters — Mexican demand for U.S. grain imports has slumped along with the country’s sinking peso as buyers withdrew from the market amid soaring costs in the week since Donald Trump won the U.S. presidential election, traders and industry analysts said. Corn prices in pesos jumped more than 10 per cent overnight for […] Read more
Bunge expects bounce from record U.S. harvest
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. agricultural products trader Bunge said Wednesday it expects the record-large U.S. corn and soybean harvest to help its earnings rebound from a weaker-than-expected third quarter. The company’s shares surged despite reporting disappointing results on Wednesday due to weather-reduced crops in South America, home to many of Bunge’s elevators and processing […] Read more
ADM profit jumps on higher U.S. grain exports
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. agricultural products trader Archer Daniels Midland on Tuesday reported a far better-than-expected third-quarter profit as higher U.S. exports of corn and soybeans boosted volumes and margins, sending shares up sharply. U.S. farmers have nearly completed what is expected to be the largest corn and soybean harvests on record, which should […] Read more
U.S. grains: Soybeans fall from peak on weak cash market
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. soybean futures fell for the first time in four sessions on Tuesday, pressured by a weak cash market and by profit-taking after hitting a 3-1/2-week high earlier in the session, traders said. Corn futures eased in a mild technical setback but remained within the prior session’s trading range. Wheat dropped […] Read more
Monsanto surprises with adjusted profit as expenses drop
Reuters — U.S. seeds and agrochemicals company Monsanto, which agreed last month to be bought by Germany’s Bayer for US$66 billion, reported a surprise adjusted profit, helped by a drop in expenses and higher corn seed volumes. Monsanto agreed in September to a sweetened $128-per-share offer from Bayer that, if approved by regulators, would create […] Read more