Insights and Stories on International

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U.S. livestock: Cattle, hog futures mixed on end-of-year positioning

Dec. 30, 2016 at 1:12 pm CST

Chicago/Reuters – Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures were narrowly mixed on Friday, paring earlier steep gains on end-of-year positioning, traders said. Stronger bids for cattle in U.S. Plains cash markets underpinned prices. But some investors took profits after most-active February futures hit an eight-month high before turning slightly lower. […]

U.S. grains: Wheat, corn prices sag in 2016 as record supply weighs

Dec. 30, 2016 at 1:06 pm CST

By Julie Ingwersen

U.S. grains: Wheat, corn climb as dollar softens; soybeans drift lower

Dec. 29, 2016 at 4:37 pm CST

By Julie Ingwersen

U.S. livestock: CME live cattle soars to 6-month high on cash price hopes

Dec. 29, 2016 at 3:46 pm CST

By Theopolis Waters

Corn leaf damaged by fall armyworm Spodoptera frugiperda

Zambia president orders air force to help fight maize pest

Dec. 29, 2016 at 1:59 pm CST

By Reuters

Fat herds, leaner profits: For China’s pig farmers, New Year feasts bring cold comfort

Dec. 29, 2016 at 11:55 am CST

Beijing/Reuters – With China’s Lunar New Year festivities fast approaching, pig farmers in the world’s biggest pork market have little to cheer. As they fatten herds to meet peak demand, a slump in retail prices and a spike in feed costs are grinding up profits. A wave of imports has […]

By Dominique Patton Hallie Gu

China takes aim at corn glut with plastics, livestock feed push

Dec. 29, 2016 at 11:47 am CST

Beijing/Reuters – China plans to boost production of biodegradable plastics made out of corn and increase the use of the grain as an animal feed in the next three years, the government said on Thursday, the latest effort to absorb a domestic glut that has hurt prices. Outlining its five-year […]

By Reuters

U.S. livestock: Cash, beef prices send CME live cattle to 4-1/2-month top

Dec. 28, 2016 at 4:28 pm CST

Chicago/Reuters – Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures rose on Wednesday, hitting a 4-1/2-month high, with traders citing strong wholesale beef demand and steady-to-firmer preliminary cash prices. December live cattle, which will expire on Friday, closed up 1.025 cents per pound to 115.975 cents. Most actively traded February ended up 1.375 […]

By Theopolis Waters

U.S. grains: Corn, wheat, soy retreat in technical year-end trade

Dec. 28, 2016 at 4:06 pm CST

Chicago/Reuters – U.S. corn, wheat and soybean futures fell on Wednesday in technically driven trade as investors squared positions toward the end of the year and the dollar firmed, analysts said. Additional pressure stemmed from easing concerns about crop weather in South America. Chicago Board of Trade March corn futures settled […]

By Julie Ingwersen

U.S. wheat farmers fret over failing market hedges as incomes slump

Dec. 28, 2016 at 3:29 pm CST

Chicago/Reuters – Kansas wheat farmer Michael Jordan is breaking with a century-old tradition grain producers have trusted to protect their businesses: He has stopped using futures to hedge risks to his crops. The CME Group’s Kansas City wheat contract sets grain prices for millers, exporters and other grain buyers both […]

By Karl Plume