TOP STORIES
Some Grocers Bring Back Purchase Limits as Covid-19 Cases Rise
Grocery stores are reinstating purchase limits on items like paper towels or soap for the first time since the spring, as consumers stock up on staples amid rising Covid-19 cases.
With people staying at home more, retailers say there is renewed demand for paper products and frozen foods. Stores also are reporting new shortages in staple cooking ingredients like butter and spices.
Kroger Co., the nation's largest grocer, and Publix Super Markets Inc., a chain of more than 1,200 stores in the Southeast, reinstated limits on bath tissue and paper towels last week. Kroger also brought back limits on hand soap and disinfectant wipes. Recently, there has been some shortage of paper and cleaning products as coronavirus cases surge, said Kevin Hourican, chief executive of food-service distributor Sysco Corp.
STORIES OF INTEREST
Jefferies Says New Ruth's CFO Has Right Tools for Job -- Market Talk
10:30 ET - Ruth's Hospitality's incoming finance chief Kristy Chipman brings the right skillset to help navigate the restaurant group through the coronavirus pandemic, Jefferies said. "She appears well-versed in the interaction of finance, IT and data," the firm said. Chipman will take on her new role Nov. 30. She previously worked at Orangetheory Fitness, Domino's Pizza and McDonald's. (nina.trentmann@wsj.com; @Nina_Trentmann)
US Farmers Eye Planting More Soybeans in 2021 -- Market Talk
12:47 ET - With crop prices across the board significantly higher from where they started 2020, US farmers are thinking ahead to what they plan to plant next year. Farmers tell The Wall Street Journal that they are leaning towards planting more soybeans than they did in this past crop year. "There's enough strength in beans right now to prop more guys to plant beans," says John Gilbert, a farmer and livestock producer in Hardin County, Iowa. According to Gilbert, local basis for soybeans has improved suggesting that many farmers are holding off on selling their 2020 crop in hopes of prices continuing to rise. The most-active soybean contract on the CBOT is currently up 0.5% to over $11.50 per bushel Friday. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com; @kirkmaltais)
FUTURES MARKETS
Livestock Futures Drop Along With Cutout Prices -- Market Talk
15:13 ET - Livestock futures trading on the CME finish lower -- with live cattle futures closing down 1.8% to $1.09925 per pound, while lean hog futures finished down 1.4% to 64.9 cents per pound. For both beef and pork, futures followed cutout prices lower. According to USDA data, choice boxed beef cutouts fell slightly, dropping 6 cents per hundredweight to $226.44 per cwt. Meanwhile, pork carcass cutouts fell $2.47 per cwt to $80.61 per cwt. Demand for pork and beef cutouts have been directing the path of livestock futures in recent trading sessions. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com; @kirkmaltais)
CASH MARKETS
Estimated U.S. Pork Packer Margin Index - Nov 13
All figures are on a per-head basis.
Date Standard Margin Estimated margin
Operating Index at vertically -
integrated operations
Nov 13 +$ 36.72 +$ 42.18
Nov 12 +$ 43.13 +$ 49.41
Nov 11 +$ 42.94 +$ 49.79
* 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 93.7
(Percent of Year-Ago) Select 97.0
USDA Boxed Beef, Pork Reports
Wholesale choice-grade beef prices Friday fell 52 cents per hundred pounds, to $225.98, according to the USDA. Select-grade prices rose $1.22 per hundred pounds, to $209.46. The total load count was 171. Wholesale pork prices fell $3.36, to $78.69 a hundred pounds, based on Omaha, Neb., price quotes.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
11-13-20 1735ET
