Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange lean hog futures rose on Thursday for the third day in a row, supported by expectations that the spread of deadly African swine fever in China would boost demand from the world’s top pork buyer. The most-active June hogs contract closed up three cents, the daily trading limit. […] Read more

U.S. livestock: Hog futures extend rally as African swine fever spreads

U.S. grains: Spring wheat falls sharply as flood concerns ease
Chicago | Reuters –– U.S. spring wheat futures fell 1.3 per cent to their lowest in nearly nine months on Wednesday as the latest weather forecasts eased fears about flooding in the northern U.S. Plains forcing farmers to cut back on their acreage plans for the crop. Soft red winter wheat futures were 1.6 per […] Read more

U.S. livestock: CME hogs rally on hopes for increased exports to China
Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange lean hog futures charged higher on Wednesday, with the May contract surging 5.4 per cent, on hopes for a trade deal with China that would boost exports to the world’s largest consumer of pork. “U.S.-China trade talks restart in D.C. today and most accounts have those negotiations going […] Read more

U.S. livestock: June hogs limit up on swine fever concerns
Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) lean hog futures rallied on Tuesday, with some contracts closing up their daily trading limit, as expectations for a bump in export deals to China, traders said. The gains were ignited by the announcement on Monday by China’s agriculture ministry that African swine fever has been found […] Read more

U.S. grains: Improving weather view weighs on wheat
Chicago | Reuters — MGEX spring wheat futures plunged two per cent on Tuesday to their lowest levels since July 2018 on easing concerns about the weather in key U.S. growing areas and weakening cash prices, traders said. K.C. hard red winter wheat futures also were weak, with a better-than-expected government report on crop conditions […] Read more

U.S. livestock: Hog futures mixed, cattle futures firm
Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) lean hog futures were mixed on Monday, with the front-month contract firming slightly after two straight days of declines while deferreds continued to ease. Traders said that fresh pork exports to China were required to ease the burdensome supplies and boost hog futures higher. “Even though we […] Read more

U.S. grains: Corn bounces from sharp sell-off
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. corn, soybean and wheat futures rose on Monday, rebounding from Friday’s sell-off spurred by a government report that showed massive supplies of all three commodities remained in storage bins around the country. Corn notched the biggest gain, with the most active Chicago Board of Trade contract rallying 1.8 per cent […] Read more

U.S. corn, soy stocks top forecasts
Chicago | Reuters –– Massive supplies of both U.S. corn and soybeans remained in storage bins around the country ahead of spring planting, U.S. Agriculture Department (USDA) data released on Friday showed. USDA also said that farmers planned to boost their corn plantings by 4.1 per cent but severe flooding in the U.S. Midwest may […] Read more

Trudeau optimistic about making progress to end China canola ban
Ottawa/Chicago | Reuters — Canada is optimistic it can make progress this year in talks to persuade China to allow imports of Canadian canola seed to resume, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Friday, even as tensions between Ottawa and Beijing reach new highs. Trudeau spoke hours after an industry group said Chinese importers had […] Read more

Grain markets walled off from flood impacts by mountains of supplies
Chicago | Reuters — A massive supply of grains has shielded the futures markets from the impact of flooding in the U.S. Midwest so far, with traders largely shrugging off this week’s reports of destroyed storage bins, swamped elevators and questions about if waters will recede in time for planting. The problem is grain glut […] Read more