Top 3 Trending Articles
1. 2 700 tractors block Brussels traffic in protest
2. Airfryer product market is booming!
3. Global Beef Industry Overview
Animal Feed & Nutrition Company News
Cargill
The global shipping industry is responsible for 3% of worldwide greenhouse gas emissions, and there is increasing pressure to reduce its carbon footprint. Cargill, a major player in the industry, plans to evaluate the use of wind sails on a dry bulk vessel carrying cargo later this year. The ship will go into dry dock to mount the sails, and their performance will be closely monitored to improve their design.
CHS
Soybean oil has become a popular renewable fuel feedstock as demand for green energy options grows. This has led to a significant increase in renewable diesel production capacity, which has driven up the prices of soybean oil. To meet this demand, CHS has completed a $100 million renovation of its soybean processing plant in Fairmont, Minnesota, and is expanding its soybean refinery in Mankato. These expansions put CHS in a good position to meet the growing demand for soy oil and explore other opportunities for growth in the future. Soybean producers like Richard Stadheim appreciate the facility upgrades as they allow for easier unloading and more dollars in their pockets.
Evonik
Evonik, a German specialty chemicals company, is cautiously optimistic for 2023 after a challenging 2022. Despite facing war, high inflation, and fluctuating energy prices, Evonik achieved its best operating result in the past 10 years, with sales increasing by 24% to €18.5 billion. However, volumes declined slightly, and raw material and energy prices rose sharply, affecting the second half of the year. Evonik expects sales in the range of €17 billion to €19 billion for 2023, with adjusted EBITDA between €2.1 billion and €2.4 billion. The company aims to achieve its ambitious targets with joint efforts.
Landus & Heartland
Iowa-based cooperatives, Landus and Heartland Co-op, have agreed to swap assets to improve operational efficiencies in staff, facility, and resource utilization. Landus will purchase the Rippey and Panora grain and agronomy assets from Heartland, while Heartland will purchase the Woodward and Earlham grain, agronomy, and feed assets from Landus. The move is expected to create better strategic fits for both cooperatives, leading to improved investment and service to area producers. No service disruptions are expected during the transition, and farmer equity in either cooperative will not be impacted.
Meat Market News
Egg prices have risen significantly in 2022, with consumers paying an average of $4.30 for a dozen Grade A large eggs in December, compared to $1.80 the previous year. The egg industry is worth approximately $10 billion and has experienced nearly 13% annual profit growth from 2017 to 2022, according to IBISWorld. However, the industry is volatile and sensitive to market changes and environmental factors. The deadly outbreak of bird flu in the US in 2022 caused the price increase in eggs. The egg industry has also been controversial due to the lack of space given to birds and their unnatural living conditions. Cal-Maine Foods holds 16.8% of market share, and the second largest producer is Rose Acre Farms with about 7% market share.
Meat Company News
BRF
Brazilian meat processor BRF SA expects to raise margins across its businesses as livestock feed prices are expected to fall, particularly in the second half of the year, due to large soy and corn crops in Brazil. BRF is also implementing operational changes to reduce stocks of finished products and improve capacity utilization at its chicken and hog plants. The company is also planning to sell non-core assets, including a pet food unit, to reduce gross debt and pursue a leverage ratio of 2x net debt-to-EBITDA. Despite persistent downward price pressure, BRF is focused on raising margins in 2023 after experiencing cost pressure across its key divisions last year.
Cal-Maine
Shares of Cal-Maine Foods closed at $57.04, up 0.42% from the previous trading session, outpacing the S&P 500’s 0.47% loss. The company’s shares had lost 0.73% over the past month, narrower than the Basic Materials sector’s loss of 5.8% and the S&P 500’s loss of 2.53% in that time. Cal-Maine Foods is expected to report earnings of $4.30 per share, representing year-over-year growth of 430.86%, and recent analyst estimate revisions indicate positive business outlook.
Conagra
Conagra Brands is a consumer packaged goods company based in Chicago that produces and sells branded and customized staple food products in the US. The company’s product portfolio includes frozen foods, groceries, and snacks and features popular brands such as Healthy Choice, Birds Eye, and Slim Jim. Conagra Brands’ largest customer is Walmart, accounting for 28% of consolidated net sales in the first half of fiscal 2023.
Cranswick
Institutional investors hold around 88% of shares in Cranswick, giving them significant influence over the company’s share price. The top 13 shareholders own 50% of the business. Analyst forecasts and ownership data can provide insights into a company’s prospects. Institutional investors have seen disappointing one-year returns of 9.1%, but appreciated a 4.1% increase in share prices last week.
Hormel Foods
Hormel’s weak guidance has caused a pullback in prices, but it presents an opportunity to buy the stock at a 2-year low. The stock is trading consistently with pre-pandemic levels despite the business being larger, share count being lower, and dividend being greater. While the stock is currently below the long-term uptrend line, it is unlikely to break that trend. Hormel is a well-run consumer staples company that pays a healthy dividend and is trading at a reasonable valuation. Investors may want to consider buying the stock at its current levels.
JBS
Several major US food industry companies, including JBS USA Food Company, have been ordered to pay back $75 million to consumers as part of a class action lawsuit alleging price fixing. The lawsuit claims that indirect purchasers of pork products paid higher prices due to the companies’ efforts to fix, raise, maintain, and stabilize prices of certain pork products since at least January 1, 2009. Affected American consumers can file claims to receive a share of the settlement.
Tonnies
Tönnies, a meat processing company, has temporarily closed its smallest slaughterhouse in Legden, Germany due to the decline in the cattle population in Germany. The shutdown will begin on March 31, 2023, and will not affect the company’s long-term relationships with suppliers. Tönnies has offered all 50 employees the opportunity to relocate to other locations within the group. The company’s decision was a response to the changed market situation and the decline in the cattle herd in Germany, which has fallen by almost 12% in the last five years. The reopening of the Legden slaughterhouse depends on whether the cattle herd in Germany increases significantly in the future.
Dairy Company News
Agropur
Agropur has won 19 medals in their respective categories at the 2023 United States Championship Cheese Contest. This includes five gold medals, four silver medals, and ten bronze medals. Agropur won all three available awards in the whole milk mozzarella and part-skim mozzarella categories. Jean-Philippe Asselin, President Cheese, US, expressed his honor in winning these medals and attributed the success to the expertise, hard work, and dedication of the employees.
Arla
Arla Foods has agreed to continue its efforts to offer training and employment opportunities for the dairy industry in Nigeria, where there is a shortage of commercial farming and the demand for milk exceeds supply. This agreement was made through a memorandum of understanding.
Agri-Mark
The Chairman of Agri-Mark’s Board, James “Cricket” Jacquier, has announced the appointment of David Lynn as the President and CEO of the cooperative, which will ensure a smooth transition in leadership. Lynn had been serving as the interim CEO of the organization since September 2022.
Dairy Farmer of America
Good Culture, a better-for-you cottage cheese and sour cream maker, is partnering with Dairy Farmers of America (DFA) to launch milk with probiotics. The partnership will allow Good Culture to expand its reach to a new consumer base and leverage DFA’s familiarity with the milk space, as the dairy giant has a variety of milk brands in its portfolio. Consumer interest in probiotics and gut health has led to the ingredient infiltrating new food categories, and dairy is a preferred way for nearly half of people to obtain probiotics, according to a consumer survey. Other brands, such as Danone’s Horizon Organic and Lifeway, have also launched gut health dairy products.
Danone
Danone North America and Nutricia have announced that Pepticate, an extensively hydrolyzed powdered formula, is now available in the United States to help families with food allergies during a time of formula shortages. Pepticate is designed to provide relief from cow milk allergy symptoms in infants aged 0 to 12 months and is recommended by pediatricians in over 75 countries, making it the most-recommended formula for cow milk allergy in the UK.
Nestle
Nestle SA experienced a decline in sales volume during the fourth quarter due to the increased prices of its branded products, indicating that the company’s pricing power has limitations. According to the maker of Nescafe coffee, volume decreased by 2.6% for the second quarter in a row. The last time Nestle saw negative volume was in the first quarter of 1999. As a result, the company’s stock fell by up to 1%.
Logistics News
The Suez Canal Authority has reported that the MSC ISTANBUL, a container ship sailing under the flag of Liberia, which had broken down in the Suez Canal on Sunday, causing some traffic diversion, has resumed its journey. The ship was travelling from Malaysia to Portugal when it became stranded, but four tugboats had been deployed to move it, and traffic in the canal had not been affected. The incident happened at about 1600 GMT on Sunday, according to Eikon shipping data. This comes after the incident in 2021 when the Ever Given, a large container ship, was stuck in the canal for six days, blocking traffic.
