Mar­ket Report March 23, 2012

BEEF

Mar­ket is steady to slightly lower. Total beef pro­duc­tion for last week was down 1.8% ver­sus prior week and down 2.8% ver­sus prior year. Live prices are hold­ing mostly steady and remain well above same time last year. Futures con­tinue to point towards strong pric­ing as we move thru this year. Packer mar­gins remain very neg­a­tive. Inven­to­ries remain good to long on some cuts while demand is rated as steady to slightly lower. Grilling sea­son is right around the cor­ner and is expected to help spur demand and put pres­sure on pricing.

Grinds– Mar­ket is slightly lower. Inven­to­ries are good to slightly heavy for cur­rent demand. Sea­sonal demand is expected to tighten inven­to­ries and put pres­sure on the mar­ket as we move thru the next few weeks.

Loins– Mar­ket is steady to slightly lower. Inven­to­ries are very good for cur­rent demand. Pack­ers moved pric­ing down­ward again this week in an attempt to help bring demand in line with inventories.

Mar­ket is steady to slightly lower. Inven­to­ries are good for cur­rent demand and expec­ta­tions are for pric­ing to move slightly lower as we move thru the next few weeks.

Chucks– Mar­ket is steady.

Ribs– Mar­ket is mostly steady. Inven­to­ries are good for cur­rent demand.

PORK

Mar­ket is steady to slightly lower. Total pork pro­duc­tion for last week was up 2% ver­sus pre­vi­ous week and up 1.7% ver­sus same time last year. Live prices are hold­ing mostly steady but remain above same time last year. Live weights increased 1 lbs from pre­vi­ous week and were up just over 2 lbs from last year. Inven­to­ries are heavy too long at times on sev­eral cuts and are putting down­ward pres­sure on the mar­ket. Packer mar­gins remain neg­a­tive and reports show that pack­ers are expected to reduce pro­duc­tion to help bring inven­to­ries in line with cur­rent demand.

Bel­lies– Mar­ket is slightly lower. The mar­ket drifted lower this week as cur­rent inven­to­ries con­tinue to exceed demand.

Hams– Mar­ket is mixed. Heavy hams con­tinue to move down­ward because of ample sup­ply and only a fair demand. Smaller sized hams and spi­rals have held firmer as inven­to­ries are tighter as demand has been good.

Loins– Mar­ket is steady.

Butts– Mar­ket is mostly steady. Demand is expected to increase over the next few weeks and help push this mar­ket heav­ier as sea­sonal demand starts to impact inventories.

Ribs– Mar­ket is mixed. Spareribs con­tinue to trend down­ward as inven­to­ries out­pace demand. Back ribs remain firm and are expected to remain firm as we move thru April.

CHICKEN

Busi­ness con­tin­ues to be mostly sea­sonal. Most offer­ings are ade­quate for cur­rent inven­tory lev­els. WOGs and whole birds have become trou­ble­some for sup­pli­ers, with inven­tory lev­els build­ing to where mar­ket has seen some decreas­ing this week in the hopes of mak­ing a sale.

Whole breasts and breast fronts are steady with prod­uct lim­ited in avail­abil­ity. Bone­less is about steady. Ten­ders are short of full needs. This mar­ket has seen some increase this week as demand has strength­ened. Dark meat over­all is flat. Wings are steady. 

TURKEY

Mar­kets are mixed. The whole bird mar­ket is gain­ing strength as we move into spring. Both toms and hens are tight on avail­abil­ity, with toms more so. This mar­ket more than likely will con­tinue to get stronger. Con­sumer sized breasts are strong as buy­ers are pay­ing pre­mi­ums to get needs cov­ered though the next few months. Insti­tu­tional sized prod­uct cur­rently trad­ing at mar­ket. Thigh meat at best is steady. Wings are steady with hen wings harder to secure. Ten­ders are steady. 

SEAFOOD

Gulf Shrimp– Mar­ket is steady but firm. Inven­to­ries remain lim­ited and sup­plies vary between suppliers.

Black Tiger Shrimp– Mar­ket is steady.

White Shrimp– Mar­ket is mixed. 36 – 40 count and smaller from Latin Amer­ica are firm­ing in price based on a good demand and inven­to­ries tight­en­ing. Replace­ment costs on this prod­uct are mov­ing higher putting addi­tional pres­sure on the mar­ket. The rest of the mar­ket is mostly steady.

King Crab– Mar­ket is steady.

Snow Crab– Mar­ket is steady to slightly lower. Inven­to­ries are good for cur­rent demand.

Scal­lops– Mar­ket is mixed. Domes­tic IQF prices have eased slightly because of good pro­duc­tion since the open­ing of the new sea­son on March 1^st. ⁴⁰⁄₆₀ count bay scal­lops from China con­tinue to firm because of lim­ited inventories.

Salmon– Mar­ket is soft. Inven­to­ries are good for a dull demand.

Cod– Mar­ket is steady.

Floun­der– Mar­ket is firmer. Inven­to­ries are light for a good demand.

Had­dock– Mar­ket is steady. Inven­to­ries are below aver­age because of low pro­duc­tion num­bers but demand is low and is help­ing to hold the mar­ket steady.

Pol­lock– Mar­ket is steady.

Whit­ing– Mar­ket is steady.

Domes­tic Cat­fish– Mar­ket is steady.

Mahi-​Mahi– Mar­ket is softer– Inven­to­ries are good for a dull demand. Cur­rent pric­ing remains above nor­mal sea­sonal averages.

Tilapia– Mar­ket is steady to slightly lower. Inven­to­ries are good for cur­rent demand. 3 – 5’s and 5 – 7’s have inven­to­ries rated as very good.

Grouper– Mar­ket is firm. Inven­to­ries are light for a good demand.

Swai– Mar­ket is steady.

DAIRY

Cheese-​Market is firmer. Both the CME Block and Bar­rel mar­ket moved upward again this week. Export demand remains good and is noted as help­ing to move some of the inven­to­ries that had started to build from the pre­vi­ous weeks of strong pro­duc­tion. Domes­tic demand is also good and is due in part to the warm weather across the country.

But­ter– Mar­ket is firmer. The CME But­ter mar­ket opened stronger on Mon­day and has remained steady for the week which has pulled the weekly aver­age higher. Retail demand is very good and there are sev­eral ads cur­rently in place. Retail demand is noted as increas­ing and is expected to increase over the next few weeks. Export demand is also good. Cur­rent pro­duc­tion is good as proces­sors uti­lize sea­son­ally build­ing milk and cream supplies.

EGGS

Mar­ket is firm. Total shell egg inven­to­ries were up 1.8% to start this week ver­sus prior week. Retail demand is increased and expec­ta­tions are for demand to con­tinue to increase as we move closer to Easter. Food­ser­vice demand con­tin­ues strong and bet­ter than expec­ta­tions. Inven­to­ries on most sizes remain tight for cur­rent demand and con­tinue to put addi­tional pres­sure on pricing.

FRUITS, VEG­ETA­BLES, & IMPORTS

Canned Veg­eta­bles

Dry Pack Prod­uct – costs con­tinue to rise on all dry pack items and avail­abil­ity is tight due to short­age in raw mate­r­ial. Expect firm to ris­ing prices.

White Pota­toes – expect spot short­ages in some whole sizes. Sliced and diced inven­to­ries are cur­rently bal­anced, but raw mate­r­ial is tight. Expect firm to ris­ing prices.

Green Beans – Due to dimin­ish­ing inven­to­ries, some can­ners are insti­tut­ing pal­let min­i­mums on green beans. Expect spot short­ages and ris­ing prices.

Green Peas – Inven­tory is very tight and most can­ners are con­cerned about hav­ing prod­uct avail­able until new pack in June.

Car­rots – ade­quate sup­ply to meet needs.

Corn – All grades are avail­able imme­di­ate needs. Expect firm Pricing

Beets – Whole beets are very tight with most can­ners enforc­ing pal­let min­i­mums – some can­ners are out com­pletely. Sliced and diced are in ade­quate supply.

SOY

Soy bean oil futures prices have pulled back from last Friday’s level. Good domes­tic weather, the pos­si­bil­ity of more bean plant­i­ngs, lower out­side and energy mar­kets and were the pri­mary dri­vers. On the other side con­cerns still exist for the South Amer­i­can crop. Brazil’s crop is over the half way point and some are expect­ing a reduc­tion. Argentina while in the mid­dle of their crop has a truck­ers strike which could pos­si­bly result in reductions.

Pub­lished Date