TDA Market Recap, Jan. 12, 2015

Source: Texas Department of Agriculture Market News
For the week ending Jan. 10, 2015, Texas auctions quoted feeder cattle prices mostly steady to $10 higher, with one sale location reporting an increase as high as $30 in comparison to pre-holiday prices. Texas direct feeder cattle sales were $2 to $9 higher. Fed cattle weekly cash sales were slow later in the week, though prices were quoted at $170 per hundredweight (cwt) last Thursday, up about five percent from last week. Wholesale beef values continued their increase to close at $256.79 per cwt for Choice Grade cut-out and $248.23 per cwt for Select Grade. Weekly export sales beginning Jan. 1 totaled 6,000 metric tons (MT), with Japan, Chile and Mexico as the top buyers. Export shipments of 7,700 MT went primarily to Japan, Hong Kong and South Korea. Accumulated exports of 680,200 MT for 2014 were down two percent from the previous year.
Cotton prices were higher in comparison to last week, though down about 22 percent from last year. The International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC) announced that global cotton acreage will decline in 2015 as a result of the large volume of world ending stocks and current low prices. Export cotton sales were 68 percent higher than the previous week, but down 13 percent than the prior four-week average. Shipments were at a marketing-year high, up 21 percent from the previous week and 11 percent from the weekly average.
Wheat cash prices in Texas are down 67 cents after the holidays, and futures experienced a 16 cent decrease since last week. Net export sales for wheat were at a marketing-year low, down 57 percent from the prior week and 61 percent from the four-week average. However, shipments were three times higher than the previous week and 43 percent higher than the weekly average
Texas corn cash prices also were lower after the holidays, down about 14 cents. However, corn futures prices experienced a four cent gain to end the week. Corn export sales also were at a marketing-year low, down 57 percent from the previous week and 63 percent from the four-week average. Export shipments were 24 percent lower than the prior week and 28 percent lower than the average.
Much of the state recorded precipitation over the last week, with the exception of the Texas Panhandle. Reports of a half inch or more were almost exclusively east of I-35. Last week’s U.S. Drought Monitor for Texas showed 61 percent of the state was experiencing some form of drought conditions. Twenty-four percent of the state continues to experience severe drought conditions. On the national level, almost 44 percent of the U.S. is experiencing abnormal dryness or some degree of drought, down about two and a half percent from last week.
In other news, crude oil prices fell below $50 a barrel last week, its lowest settlement price since April 2009.
Additional information on agricultural weather, crop progress and agricultural markets can be found on the TDA Market News page. 

MBF = thousand board feet.
All cash prices above are market averages for locations covered by the USDA Market News program and do not reflect any particular sale at any specific location. Feeder cattle prices are for Texas direct sales of 650-850 pound medium and large No.1 steers for current delivery. Futures prices are quoted for the nearest month contract on the last trading day of the week. Timber prices are from the Texas A&M Forest Service, bimonthly “Texas Timber Price Trends.”
For additional information, contact TDA at 800-835-5832 or visit www.TexasAgriculture.gov.