Page 8 of articles about market prices in Articles

The harsh reality is that the outlook is bleak in all Europe.

Big news in US as Seaboard and Triumph Foods announce plans to build and operate a large-scale packing plant in Sioux City. One of the things which this move signals is the further coordination of the production sector with consumer demand.

Everyone in the United States is waiting for the return of the seasonal pattern and the prospect of prices breaking out of this extended period of flat-lining which has gone on for almost two months now.

The prices recover both in northern and southern Europe.

In February, the price should improve, slightly and with difficulty, but it should ameliorate.

In our sector we know well that if Germany sneezes the whole of Europe catches a cold. Last Wednesday the prices dropped by €0.04 in Germany…

Just like the emergent molten lava from Mount Kilauea, so an historical metric of the US hog industry, having lay dormant for many years, is creeping ever so slowly over its profit destroying "trigger" level. That metric is the hog corn ratio.

Europe as a whole has a flat depressive profile with the prices in the minimum levels of the last three years.

During July Germany has made a strong challenge that is difficult to process for the whole of Europe.

The future for the European pig producers seems clear and the heart of the matter lies in knowing how the different markets will reposition themselves.

Increased prices for pork will lead to decreases in quantity demanded by the vast majority of consumers, export and domestic. This is especially the case in the current structurally high unemployment situation which has seen inflation-adjusted per capita personal income fall steadily since the market crash of 2007.

It seems that the price has initiated its spring rise, but many factors intervene. Whilst the Russian borders are still closed the collapse of some cuts (especially fats) will be inevitable.

Time will tell if PEDV is the cause but weaned pig and feeder pig prices began to turn up in June, a couple of months ahead of their traditional seasonal bottoming with the turn toward seasonal highs which peak usually in February or March.

When you earn a profit, you have created more tangible value than the cost of the scarce global resources used to create your final product.

Political decisions in the form of new laws, regulations, permitting requirements, etc. are extra-market forces which can cause market costs and revenues to swing significantly from the pathway set down by fundamental forces, like supply and demand.

Understanding the market dynamics of feed ingredient costs is crucial not only to manage overall costs of production but to ensure effective strategies in purchasing, margin hedging, peak line of credit acquisition and liquidity or financial risk management.