Milling & Baking News - December 23, 2003 - 39

I N G R E D I E N T

Private label sales on the West coast
have suffered dramatically from a labor
dispute affecting several grocery outlets.
Production lines were running heavily
last week in order that four-day downtime could be taken Christmas week. MBN

Bakery Shortening
Bookings of bakery shortening were
light last week. Prices were steady to
lower. Sales activity was sluggish.
The light sales reflected continuing reticence to extend coverage significantly at
prices well above historical averages.
Normal holiday doldrums added to the
inactivity. Still, several consecutive days
of declining soybean oil futures prices
prompted a scattering of buyers to add
fill-in requirements or make small additions to contract balances. By the end of
the week, coverage for January-March
2004 was estimated at 40% to 50% of prospective requirements. Often, buyers are
80%-plus covered for January-March of
the new year by mid-December the year
before. More typically, buyers are picking
up bits of April-June coverage as the calendar year winds down.
Still, no significant pickup in business
was anticipated anytime soon. Buyers
were expected to opportunistically take
advantage in price dips such as last
week's to make small additions to contract balances, but otherwise were expected to work down backlogs and
watch. Sellers expressed little optimism
that a sustained price decline would be
forthcoming any time soon. With soybean oil stocks the smallest since 1994-95
and soybean oil yields poor, buyers were
left hoping for a bumper South American
crop to take the edge off price strength. "I
don't think buyers should count on
prices below 25½c a lb on any of the principal vegetable oils," one refiner said.
"And 25½c is anything but a sure thing."
Prices for corn oil, cottonseed oil and
other alternative shortenings changed erratically in featureless trading. MBN

seasonal demand was indicated in key
sectors. Sales of flaking grits to breakfast
cereal manufacturers continued strong.
Cereal makers also provided a good outlet for the more finely granulated grits
used in the manufacture of extruded
products, which are used in party mixes
popular during the winter. Snack meals
sales volume mostly was steady, though
indications were that business in that sector could begin to tail off. Activity in
brewing was seasonally light, with most
business in that sector already covered
for the holiday period.
Corn flour sales were flat. Breading
and batter mix manufacturers continued
to operate at an extremely strong rate.
Corn mill running times in several instances ran at close to seven days, though
the range was five to seven. At least some
of the pickup in grind was attributed to
the poor milling quality of the corn crop,
forcing millers to step up grind to get the
quality of product necessary to meet customers' needs. MBN

Corn & Soy Futures
Soybean futures gave back much of the
previous week's gains last week, despite
the culmination of China's long-awaited
buying trip to Chicago. Soybean futures
dropped sharply Thursday when the
U.S. Department of Agriculture's weekly
export sales report showed soybean exports at a marketing year low of only
204,800 tonnes the week ended Dec. 11.
After the close, China officially declared
it had booked 2.5 million tonnes soy-

Spot Soybean Oil

W E E K

beans and would buy another 2.5 million
tonnes "if the price was right," which the
trade saw as disappointing. But early Friday U.S.D.A. announced China bought
1.844 million tonnes of soybeans, 1.152
million for delivery in the 2003-04 marketing year and the rest for 2004-05. Futures responded by trading higher for the
day but still lost ground for the week.
Corn futures were much calmer the
entire week. Prices were weaker. Although export news was generally positive for corn, it was insufficient to support prices.
Soybean meal and soybean oil futures
followed soybeans lower for the week. MBN

Oats
Bookings of food grade oat flakes were
light in advance of upcoming holidayshortened week. Trading was dull as
prices held steady. Oats futures prices
continued to change hands in the longstanding $1.40@1.50 a bu range.
Individual users put on coverage for
January-March, and in a few cases put on
additional coverage for the April-June
time frame as well. But for the most part,
users were content with current positions.
Oats shipments were heavy with cold
wintry weather now in full swing in
many locations and demand for hot
breakfast cereal holding strong. MBN

Sweeteners
Sales activity was scant last week in
sweetener markets. Prices were unchanged to lower, with the market tone

Oats

Decatur, Ill., bulk cents per lb
Dec. 19

Week's
change

Oat flakes, food grade, f.o.b.
Minneapolis, bagged, $ per cwt 18.75@19.25
Milling quality oats, No. 2 heavy,
delivered Minneapolis, $ per bu
1.701/2
Oat screening, clean out,
oats unground, $ per bu
.80@1.10
Oat hull, ground hulls only, $ per ton 10@15

-
-
-
-

Soy Flour
Bookings of soy flour were steady last
week. Prices declined but remained
about $2.50 to $3 a cwt above price levels
of December 2002.
A few more individual users, including bakers, put on at least partial coverage through September 2004. But many
remained on the sidelines or bought only
spot needs as they continued to sort out
the soybean supply and price picture going forward. Shipments were steady. MBN

Corn Meal
Sales of corn meal were steady. Prices
finished a bit stronger.
As typical for this time of year, good
bakingbusiness.com / world-grain.com

Spot Shortening
Bulk, cents per lb

Chicago Soybean Oil Futures
Bulk in tank cars, cents per lb
Dec. 19
Week's
Delivery
close
change
January
28.05
-0.52
March
27.89
-0.54
May
27.67
-0.38
July
27.36
-0.24
August
26.95
-0.10
September
26.42
+0.22

Year
ago
21.89
21.92
21.64
21.37
21.10
20.87

Dec. 19
Soybean oil, Decatur
29.75
Loose lard, Chicago
25.50
Edible tallow, Chicago
29.50
Cottonseed oil, Miss. PBSY 35.00
Palm oil, ports
26.75
Palm kernel oil, ports
31.00
Coconut oil, West coast
27.00
Peanut oil, Southeast
65.00
Corn oil, Decatur
29.00
Sunflowerseed oil, Midwest
31.75
Canola oil, Midwest
33.50

Week's
change
-.75
+.50
-
-
-.25
+1.50
-1.25
-
-1.50
-.75
-.50

Milling & Baking News, December 23, 2003 / 39

Year
ago
23.25
19.50
20.00
47.00
23.75
26.00
23.00
45.00
30.00
33.50
32.00

http://www.bakingbusiness.com http://www.world-grain.com

Milling & Baking News - December 23, 2003

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