DTN Early Word Opening Livestock
Lean Hog Futures Staged For Softer Opening
GENERAL COMMENTS:
Cattle: Steady w/Wed Futures: Mixed Live Equiv $139.80 - .44*
Hogs: .50-$1 LR Futures: 50-100 LR Lean Equiv $106.15 -1.82**
* based on formula estimating live cattle equivalent of gross packer revenue
** based on formula estimating lean hog equivalent of gross packer revenue
Although trade volume was limited on Wednesday, lower steer and heifer prices probably set the market for the balance of the week (i.e., $118 dressed/$117 live). Unsold cattle are priced around $120 in the South and $190 in the North. Look for trade volume to increase Thursday and/or Friday. Live and feeder futures seem set to open on a mixed basis thanks to a combination of follow-through buying and long liquidation.
The cash hog trade seem ready to open with bids $0.50 to $1 lower. Saturday slaughter plans are expected to total close to 63,000 head. Lean futures are staged to open lower, checked by short-covering and struggling product demand.
| BULL SIDE | BEAR SIDE | ||
| 1) | Live and feeder futures reversed and closed mostly higher, especially live contracts. Spot August live attracted new buying interest about long-term support around $112 to $112.50. | 1) | Light to moderate cash cattle trading surfaced at midweek with dressed sales $2 to $4 lower and live deals off as much as $3. Such defensiveness may be ominous of greater trade volume through the balance of the week. |
| 2) | Beef cutouts continued to recover on Wednesday with the select box jumping more than a buck for the third consecutive session. | 2) | The board structure continues to exhibit expectations of lower cattle and beef prices going into late summer and fall. |
| 3) | For the week ending July 22, Iowa barrows and gilts averaged 275.7 pounds, 1.1 lbs. lighter than the week before and 1.6 lbs. smaller than 2016. | 3) | For the week ending July 22, U.S. hatcheries set 227 million broiler eggs in incubators; up 5% from a year ago. At the same time, totaled 182 million chicks; up 3% from 2016. |
| 4) | Lean hog futures settled Wednesday's session higher, despite the continued easing of cash hog prices and fading overall wholesale pork product values. Such contrary behavior may suggested that discounted spot August is cheap enough. | 4) | The pork carcass value really took it on the chin Wednesday with significant softer demand for fresh cuts and ribs. |
CATTLE: (ABC) -- China has temporarily banned beef exports from six Australian meatworks, the Federal Government has confirmed.
Australia was made aware of the ban on Tuesday, and Trade Minister Steven Ciobo told the ABC he intended to work closely and constructively with industry and China to resolve the issue as quickly as possible.
Mr Ciobo said the ban related to Chinese concern about labelling non-compliance.
There is no suggestion that health or food safety issues are involved.
P[L1] D[0x0] M[300x250] OOP[F] ADUNIT[] T[]
"This is obviously a very material situation," Mr Ciobo said.
"We've got, potentially, very significant amounts of trade involved in this and so it's a matter that I'm very mobilised on, my team, my office, as well as our embassy in China."
He said Australia and China had a strong relationship that "sees us work through irritants" such as Australia's recent ban on prawn imports.
"We intend to engage in a very constructive way," Mr Ciobo said, and sought to reassure the beef industry the Government would adopt a very "proactive" approach.
The Australian Meat Industry Council confirmed it was working with the Department of Agriculture through diplomatic channels on the issue.
There are shipments currently on the water.
But the ABC understands the Australian industry believes it has resolved the labelling issues, and the Government is hopeful it can resolve the issue before those ships arrive in China.
The ABC understands the affected abattoirs are in Queensland and NSW, and include two facilities owned by Australia's largest meat processor JBS.
Other companies affected are Kilcoy Pastoral, Australian Country Choice, the Northern Rivers Co-operative at Casino, and Thomas Food.
The Government was formally notified by the Chinese Government Wednesday and has been liaising with industry last night and Thursday.
The ABC understands the ban is because of non-compliance issues around labelling of meat from those plants, and is not because of health or food safety concerns.
Industry believes it has addressed those non-compliance issues and is hopeful the issue will be resolved quickly.
The Australian Department of Agriculture and Water Resources issued a statement saying the six affected export establishments were reported as suspended on the Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine of China website.
Australia's beef exports to China were worth more than $600 million last year, and China is the fourth-largest market.
More beef and lamb processors were given approval in March to export chilled meat to China in a deal struck at the highest level, between the Chinese Premier and the Australian Prime Minister.
But Australian exporters are also now confronted with a new competitor in the market as China opens up to US beef imports for the first time in 13 years.
HOGS: (Restaurant News Release) -- From New York City to New Zealand and Canada to the Netherlands, McDonald's (NYSE: MCD) has expanded McDelivery with UberEATS to 13 countries, including 3,500 restaurants in the U.S. in the past three months. McDelivery is now available across the globe from over 7,800 restaurants in 47 countries and six continents.
In celebration of this new way for customers to enjoy their favorite menu items delivered right to their home, work or beyond, McDonald's is marking the milestone with Global McDelivery Day, by surprising customers who order McDelivery on July 26th with special deliveries and fun McDonald's moments.
"We are excited to bring this new level of convenience to more of our customers around the globe, delivering on our commitment to transform the customer experience in and out of our restaurants," said McDonald's President and CEO Steve Easterbrook. "Global McDelivery Day is our way of celebrating the expansion of delivery while highlighting McDonald's ability to give our customers the great tasting food they love at McDonald's, where they want to enjoy it."
Across the world, Global McDelivery Day will come to life at 11 a.m. local time with delightful moments for customers, and in select cities and countries where McDelivery is available through UberEATS, McDonald's fans will have access to the free, limited edition McDelivery Collection of fun, fashionable items to enjoy with McDelivery. In the U.S., model Chrissy Teigen will be delivering McDelivery Collection gear for several group deliveries in New York City. In Canada, consumers who find the mysterious McBench can get McDonald's delivered right to their spot and in Italy, celebrity Belen Rodriguez will surprise fans with a special McDelivery orders. In Japan, customers will have the option to "Order a Smile" to receive a personalized thank you message from crew members and in the Netherlands, McDonald's is delivering to fans who have posted on social media about why they need a McDelivery.
In addition to countries where McDonald's utilizes end-to-end owned delivery service models, this global benchmark was reached in partnership with various third parties for ordering and fulfillment — with UberEATS being McDonald's largest global McDelivery partner.
"We are excited to celebrate our global expansion with McDonald's," said Jason Droege, Head of UberEverything. "UberEATS is happy to make food delivery easy at the push of a button whether you're enjoying a McNuggets picnic with a side of fresh air or hanging back at home with a Big Mac and matching pillowcase."
Globally, McDonald's is one of the largest providers of delivered food in the world, with over two decades of delivery experience and annual systemwide delivery sales of nearly $1 billion across various markets in Asia and the Middle East.
"With 75% of the population in our top markets in the world less than three miles from a McDonald's, we are well positioned to meet the untapped demand of delivery for our customers," Easterbrook added.
Delivery is just one of the ways that McDonald's continues to raise the bar for its customers. Last year, McDonald's made changes to its menu including removing artificial preservatives from several menu items including Chicken McNuggets. McDonald's is transforming the customer experience through more modern restaurants featuring self-order kiosks and table service with the Experience of the Future and with mobile ordering and pay which will roll out later this year to 20,000 restaurants around the world, including the U.S.
For more information about McDelivery and the special deliveries on Global McDelivery Day, go to McDeliveryatMcDonalds.com or follow along with the day's surprises on Twitter with the #GlobalMcDeliveryDay hashtag. For information on cities and restaurants that the McDelivery Collection will be available from, go to McDeliveryatMcDonalds.com.
John Harrington can be reached at feelofthemarket@yahoo.com
Follow John Harrington on Twitter @feelofthemarket
(BAS)
Copyright 2017 DTN/The Progressive Farmer. All rights reserved.
