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Food Prices Hit Two-Year High on Meat, Vegetable-Oil Shortfalls -- Market Talk

1051 GMT - Food prices have surged to their highest level in more than two years, the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization says, as the disease afflicting China's pig herd continues to drive up meat and fish imports. Meat prices rose 4.6% in November from October, the biggest one-month advance in more than 10 years, reflecting "strong import demand, especially from China." Demand for meat in meals at Christmas and Thanksgiving has exacerbated the global meat shortfall, the FAO adds. Vegetable-oil prices rose even more quickly--jumping 10% from October--as consumers sought to lock in supplies ahead of possible shortages in 2020. Overall food prices rose 2.7% in November from October, and were 9.5% higher than a year earlier. (joe.wallace@wsj.com)

Burger King Plans More Than 100 New Canada Restaurants >QSR

Restaurant Brands International Inc.'s (QSR.T, QSR) Burger King unit Thursday said it plans to open 103 restaurants in Ontario and Manitoba over the next five years, boosting the number of locations in Canada by 25%.

Burger King said it has signed a new five-year expansion deal with Redberry Restaurants, its long-time partner in Canada, to open the new restaurants.

Kroger's Overhaul Crimps Profit Again -- Update

Kroger Co.'s investments in store renovations and technology hurt profit again in its latest quarter, when the grocer tempered its overhaul plans to boost future sales.

The Cincinnati-based chain on Thursday posted its fifth consecutive profit decline for the quarter, a 17% decrease over that period last year to $263 million. Kroger said profit at pharmacies in its grocery stores fell due to pressure from the spread of lower-margin generic drugs across the industry. The company also said it expects to write down by $238 million the value of the Lucky's Market natural grocer that it invested in three years ago.

STORIES OF INTEREST

USDA to Embark on Seven Trade Missions in 2020 -- Market Talk

1055 ET - Representatives for the USDA will engage in seven agribusiness trade missions in 2020, in an effort to reach out to areas of the world that could increase their consumption of US agriculture, the agency's Foreign Agriculture Service says. The missions will be led by Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs Ted McKinney, and will travel to North Africa in March, the Philippines in April, Spain and Portugal in June, the UK in September, Australia and New Zealand in October, Peru in November, and the UAE in December. It's the most trade missions the USDA has led in one year, says McKinney -- with four of the stops being first-time destinations for USDA outreach. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com; @kirkmaltais)

Retailers Watching Changes To Federal Food Aid Policy -- Market Talk

11:20 ET - Analysts are trying to game out what the Trump administration's move to tighten requirements for federal food aid will mean for grocers and retailers that sell food. Kroger executives say they are evaluating what changes to the program could mean for business, describing it as a potential risk. Dollar General, whose core customer earns a lower income, doesn't believe the changes will have a material effect on its business next year. "We continue to see a long-term trend of reduced benefits over time," a Dollar General executive says. The administration plans to curb the ability of states to shield adults who don't have dependents from work requirements for assistance, WSJ reports. That could make hundreds of thousands of people ineligible for food aid. (micah.maidenberg@wsj.com; @MicahMaidenberg)

Deal-Making Could Add Upside for Mondelez, Bernstein Says -- Market Talk

1511 ET - Mondelez represents a solid standalone investment, but adding deal-making to the equation could represent additional upside, Bernstein says. If Mondelez sales momentum tapers off as it faces tougher comps in FY20, that could attract renewed interest from activist investors, who may push for a combination of Mondelez and Pepsi's snack business, Bernstein says. "We believe that a combination of Mondelez and Pepsi's snack business makes strategic sense and would create a global snacking powerhouse," the analyst says. Mondelez and Pepsi compete in somewhat complimentary categories, suggesting there could be relatively limited anti-trust issues, the Bernstein note says.(michael.dabaie@wsj.com)

FUTURES MARKETS

Cattle Turn Higher Despite Weak Export Report -- Market Talk

15:21 ET - Cattle futures on the CME finished 0.4% higher at $1.246 per pound, putting an end to a recent losing streak for the February contract. However, more selling may be on the way, as recent drops in beef cutout prices suggest that packers may want to bid the cattle contract lower to compensate. "Packers are going to try to buy cattle cheaper as beef product prices have fallen out of bed this week," says Jeff French of Top Third Ag Marketing. Meanwhile, lean hog futures finished 1.2% lower at 67.575 cents per pound, with traders reacting negatively to the USDA export sales report, which showed that China had cancelled 8,500 metric tons of pork already purchased for 2020 delivery. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com; @kirkmaltais)

CASH MARKETS

 
Estimated U.S. Pork Packer Margin Index - Dec 5 
 
All figures are on a per-head basis. 
 
Date     Standard Margin       Estimated margin 
         Operating Index         at vertically - 
                             integrated operations 
Dec  5       +$ 68.80            +$ 44.03 
Dec  4       +$ 67.85            +$ 41.55 
Dec  3       +$ 69.90            +$ 42.15 
 
* 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  105.8 
      (Percent of Year-Ago)     Select  105.7 
 
USDA Boxed Beef, Pork Reports 
 

Wholesale choice-grade beef prices Thursday fell $1.35 per hundred pounds, to $225.60, according to the USDA. Select-grade prices fell $2.19 per hundred pounds, to $208.12. The total load count was 163. Wholesale pork prices rose $1.15, to $80.88 a hundred pounds, based on Omaha, Neb., price quotes.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 05, 2019 17:19 ET (22:19 GMT)

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