Syngenta’s headquarters in Basel, Switzerland. (Photo courtesy Syngenta)

Syngenta’s Shanghai IPO to fund growth, acquisitions

Hong Kong/Zurich | Reuters — Syngenta Group will use the proceeds from its US$10 billion initial public offering (IPO) to fund internal growth and an acquisition spree to snare more of the $100 billion market for seeds and sprays, the agrichemical giant said on Friday. The company’s prospectus to list on Shanghai’s Nasdaq-style STAR Market […] Read more

CBOT December 2021 corn (candlesticks) with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages (yellow, dark green and black lines). (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Corn futures retreat on profit-taking

Corn still up 12 per cent on week; traders adjust positions before July 4 weekend

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Board of Trade corn futures retreated on profit-taking on Friday, while soybean futures extended gains fueled by lower-than-expected U.S. acreage estimates and dry weather in part of the Midwest, traders said. Corn pulled back after surging by the daily, exchange-imposed limit on Wednesday when the U.S. Department of Agriculture shocked […] Read more


CME August 2021 lean hogs (candlesticks) with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages (pink, brown and black lines) and August 2021 live cattle (dark red line). (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: Lean hog futures ease on China demand worries

CME August live cattle down

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange hog futures weakened in the two most-active contract months on Friday as traders continued to dial in expectations for waning Chinese demand, analysts said. China, the world’s biggest pork consumer, has sought to rebuild its hog herd after it was decimated by an outbreak of the deadly pig […] Read more

CME August 2021 lean hogs (candlesticks) with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages (pink, brown and black lines) and August 2021 live cattle (dark red open/high/low/close). (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: Hog futures rally as China buys pork

Cattle futures, beef cutout values lower

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange hog futures rose three per cent on Monday, supported by rising demand as China moved to buy pork for its reserves to shore up the domestic market, traders said. China’s state planner said on Monday that central and local governments will start buying pork for state reserves to […] Read more


File photo of a container vessel being unloaded at a U.K. port. (Sterling750/iStock/Getty Images)

Britain begins negotiations to join Trans-Pacific pact

London | Reuters — Britain will begin negotiations on Tuesday to join a trans-Pacific trade deal that it sees as crucial to its post-Brexit pivot away from Europe and toward geographically more distant but faster-growing economies. The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) removes 95 per cent of tariffs between its members: Japan, […] Read more

CME August 2021 lean hogs (candlesticks) with 20- and 50-day moving averages (pink and brown lines) and August 2021 live cattle (red line). (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: Hogs drop on weaker pork, falling prices in China

Live cattle down with cash beef prices; feeder cattle up as corn eases

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. lean hog futures fell sharply on Monday, continuing a retreat from multi-year highs set earlier this month as cash pork prices dropped and worries increased about Chinese import demand for U.S. pork. Technical selling and profit-taking have sped the multi-session decline after the actively traded Chicago Mercantile Exchange August lean […] Read more


CBOT July 2021 soybeans (candlesticks) with Bollinger bands (20,2) and November 2021 soybeans (yellow line). (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Soybeans firm on long-term forecast, China demand

Wheat mixed on winter crop harvest, spring wheat drought

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. soybean futures advanced on Monday on renewed buying by China and as concerns lingered about dry conditions in western portions of the Midwest farm belt despite scattered storms over the weekend. Corn futures were mostly lower as rain in the central corn belt boosted crop prospects, while wheat was mixed […] Read more

CME August 2021 live cattle (candlesticks) with 20-day moving average (dark red line), CME July 2021 lean hogs (pink open/high/low/close) and CME lean hog index (black line). (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: Live cattle up on bargain-buying

CME lean hogs mostly lower; feeder cattle down on corn's bounce

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. live cattle futures firmed on bargain-buying on Friday after a steep plunge a day earlier, with expectations of steady to higher cash cattle prices next week adding support, traders said. “The market is chopping around but it looks like it needs to go back to the upside to price in […] Read more


CME August 2021 lean hogs (candlesticks) with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages (pink, brown and black lines) and August 2021 live cattle (dark red open/high/low/close). (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: Hogs limit down for second consecutive day

CME August cattle end lower

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) lean hog futures fell by an exchange-imposed limit for a second consecutive session on Thursday as commodities declined broadly. Selling by index funds fueled losses in markets from hogs to cattle and corn, after the U.S. Federal Reserve signaled it might raise interest rates sooner than expected, […] Read more

CME August 2021 lean hogs (candlesticks) with 20- and 100-day moving averages (pink and black lines) and August 2021 live cattle (dark red line). (Barchart)

U.S. livestock: Hogs limit down on new China stats

Live cattle futures up with cash values

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) lean hog futures fell their daily three-U.S.-cent limit on Wednesday, pressured by falling U.S. wholesale prices for pork products and news of increasing hog numbers in China, traders said. China’s pig herd rose 23.5 per cent in May from a year earlier, state media said on Wednesday, […] Read more