The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) released its winter fuels outlook last week, forecasting rising prices for several key agricultural inputs. First, natural gas will continue pushing up nitrogen fertilizer prices. While there are a number of factors at play in fertilizer prices including supply and delivery, crop prices, trade investigations (as WPI covered here), and natural gas, with the latter leading the way higher.
EIA is basing its forecast on colder than expected weather this winter and predicts natural gas prices will continue to climb. The front-month natural gas futures contract for delivery at the Henry Hub averaged $5.11/MMBtu during September and was $5.68/MMBtu to close last week.&nb...
Beef packer margins improved to -$130/head last week, up $44 from the prior week as sharply lower fed cattle prices more than offset continued seasonal weakness in the Choice cutout. The cutout declined to $373/cwt while fed cattle prices fell to $238/cwt, allowing packer spreads to recover for...
What You Need to Know Today: The conflict between the U.S. and Iran continues to escalate with the two sides exchanging attacks over the weekend. President Trump said Iran “will pay” for recent attacks that claimed the lives of U.S. troops stationed in Jordan. There are some signs...
