TOP STORIES 



  Food Exporters Resist China’s New Coronavirus Restrictions 


  China is tightening restrictions on food imports as it seeks to stave off a resurgence of the coronavirus, but its efforts are meeting resistance from government agencies of major food exporters. 


  China’s customs authority requested last week that companies sending meat, dairy and other food products to the country sign documents declaring that their food hasn’t been contaminated by the virus and that they are in compliance with Chinese laws and international guidelines for food safety during the Covid-19 pandemic. 


  Brazil's Minerva Foods Sees Coronavirus Impact on Demand Lasting 12-18 Months 


  SÃO PAULO--Minerva Foods SA, South America's biggest beef exporter, has seen its mix of sales at home shift to favor retail over restaurants and other food service channels and expects that situation to last at least 12-18 months, according to Chief Financial Officer Edison Ticle. 


  The company, whose share price is up about 1% since the start of the year, making it one of the strongest performers in Brazil's benchmark stock index, has also seen consumers shifting their purchases at supermarkets and other retailers to less costly products, Mr. Ticle said Wednesday. 


  Darden Expects to Benefit from Competitors Closing -- Market Talk 


  09:12 ET - Darden Restaurants says it will benefit as competitors close in the highly competitive casual-dining sector. "There will be less competition and less restaurants as we move forward. Scale is going to matter more than ever," CEO Gene Lee says. Other big chains, such as Chipotle Mexican Grill, also expect to benefit from new real estate opportunities as independent restaurants and retailers close. Darden expects to increase its locations by two to three percent going forward. (heather.haddon@wsj.com; @heatherhaddon) 


  STORIES OF INTEREST 


  Illnesses, Deaths Rising at Meatpacking and Food Plants -- Market Talk 


  12:37 ET - More meatpacking and food-processing workers have fallen ill and died as the coronavirus pandemic rages in the US, according to the United Food and Commercial Workers Union. The union, which represents roughly three-quarters of workers in beef and pork plants and one-third of workers in poultry plants, said 93 meatpacking and food-processing workers have died due to Covid-19 and 4,978 have been infected or are symptomatic. Union leaders during a press conference repeated calls for the Trump administration to issue enforceable standards to protect food-chain workers rather than leaving pandemic responses up to individual companies. "OSHA and USDA still continue to ignore the health and safety risks inside plants," says Mark Lauritsen, UFCW's International Vice President. "The time is long past for our leaders to take immediate action to protect workers." (jesse.newman@wsj.com; @jessenewman13) 


  Kroger Co. Raises Quarterly Dividend by 12.5% to 18 Cents 


  Kroger Co. on Thursday said its board raised the quarterly dividend by 12.5% to 18 cents from 16 cents. 


  The new payout, equal to 72 cents a year, represents an annual yield of about 2.19% based on Wednesday's closing price of $32.82, up from about 1.95%. 


  Target Adding Grocery Items to Pickup and Drive Up Services in U.S. 


  Target Corp. on Thursday said it will add fresh and frozen grocery items to its Order Pickup and Drive Up services in over 400 stores by the end of this month. 


  The company also said the new service will be available in over 1,500 stores in time for the holidays. 


  FUTURES MARKETS 


  US Hog Inventory Up 5% From Last Year -- Market Talk 


  The USDA says that the US inventory of hogs and pigs is up 5% from the same time last year. In its hog and pigs report released following the market's close, the USDA said that US inventory of all hogs and pigs on June 1, 2020 was 79.6 million head -- up 5% from the same time last year and up 3% from March 2020. Hogs on the market are up 6%, the USDA says. The August lean hog futures contract on the CME finished trading Thursday up 0.2% to 51.325 cents per pound, with traders reluctant to make a big movement ahead of the report's release. Meanwhile, live cattle futures finished 0.3% lower to 96.075 cents per pound. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com; @kirkmaltais) 


   CASH MARKETS 

 
Estimated U.S. Pork Packer Margin Index - Jun 25 
 
All figures are on a per-head basis. 
 
Date     Standard Margin       Estimated margin 
         Operating Index         at vertically - 
                             integrated operations 
 
Jun 25       +$ 68.74            +$  4.52 
Jun 24       +$ 77.94            +$ 11.51 
Jun 23       +$ 67.12            +$  1.10 
 
* Based on Iowa State University's latest estimated cost of production. 
A positive number indicates a processing margin above the cost of production of the animals. 
 
Beef-O-Meter 
This report compares the USDA's latest beef carcass composite 
values as a percentage of their respective year-ago prices. 
 
                                  Beef 
          For Today              Choice   94.8 
      (Percent of Year-Ago)      Select  100.7 
 
USDA Boxed Beef, Pork Reports 
 


  Wholesale choice-grade beef prices Thursday fell $1.43 per hundred pounds, to $208.26, according to the USDA. Select-grade prices fell $1.76 per hundred pounds, to $199.93. The total load count was 208. Wholesale pork prices fell $3.25, to $63.84 a hundred pounds, based on Omaha, Neb., price quotes.