In the News

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WEEKLY COMMODITY HIGHLIGHTS

Nearby Futures	Weekly Change	Friday's Close	Year Ago
Corn	-0.1450	3.9150	3.7050
Soybeans	-0.2025	10.2125	9.1225
Wheat	-0.1975	5.2325	4.2900
Cattle	+1.33	103.63	127.425
Hogs	+1.25	78.80	80.93
Cotton	+4.09	93.30	77.63
Milk	-0.18	15.49	16.66
Crude Oil	-2.32	65.56	48.36

Renewed concern about U.S. trade relations with key partners and generally favorable Midwest crop conditions weighed on grain and soybean futures during the week. Corn futures fell amid technical selling and a Midwest weather outlook that, while not ideal, included rain for most of the Midwest. New U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum from Canada and Mexico threw into doubt the prospect of a re-negotiated NAFTA deal. Meanwhile a lack of progress in U.S.-China trade relations raised questions about U.S. soybean export demand. While Mexico will continue to buy corn and China will continue to buy soybeans regardless, trade tensions and tariffs would at least hurt demand at the margins. Wheat futures fell on the trade concerns and on improving weather in the northern U.S. Plains and Canadian prairies. Rice futures ended lower on lackluster demand and benign U.S. growing conditions. Crude oil also fell, sharply, on strong U.S. production and exports. One market that moved sharply in the other direction was cotton, which soared to new contract highs and a four-year-high on a front-month basis on speculative buying driven in part by the drought in West Texas, along optimism about Chinese demand.

In the livestock complex, live cattle futures gained on record packer margins and expectations for U.S. feedlot inventory to shrink into summer. Packer margins ballooned to more than $300 per head according to HedgersEdge. Futures' gains were limited by concern about U.S. meat export prospects amid the deteriorating trade negotiations. Lean hog futures rallied early in the week, but upside was limited by the trade concerns. In addition to China's ongoing tariffs on U.S. pork, Mexico threatened tariffs on pork belly imports, in retaliation for U.S. steel and aluminum tariffs. Cash hog market fundamentals were strong, and wholesale pork values got a boost from strong Memorial Day weekend retail sales.

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