Milling & Baking News - January 20, 2015 - 1

THE NEWS WEEKLY OF GRAIN-BASED FOODS
JANUARY 20, 2015

bakingbusiness.com / foodbusinessnews.net

WASHINGTON

Stock Market Review

Grain-based foods shares up in 2014,
outperforming major market indexes

Food as fashion
Story on Page 28

LATE NEWS

Cocoa grind down
in fourth quarter
KANSAS CITY - Fourth-quarter
North American and European cocoa
bean grind declined from the same
quarter a year earlier, but full-year
results were mixed. North American
fourth-quarter grind was 122,886
tonnes, down 2,446 tonnes, or 2%,
from the same quarter in 2013, the
National Confectioners Association
said, but grind for all of 2014 totaled
521,657 tonnes, up 10,615 tonnes,
or 2%, from 2013 and the highest
on record since the N.C.A. began
reporting North American grind in
2009. European fourth-quarter grind
of 323,061 tonnes fell 7% from a year
earlier and was the lowest since
Continued on Page 8

KANSAS CITY - Marking the sixth
straight year of advances in the sector,
share prices of grain-based foods companies were up sharply in 2014. The
Grain-Based Foods Share Index, calculated by Milling & Baking News, ended
the year at a record 20342.89, up 17%.
While smaller than the 23% gain
in 2013, grain-based shares in 2014
eclipsed advances of 16% in 2012, 8%
in 2011, 9% in 2010 and 13% in 2009.
From the end of 2008, the Grain-Based
Foods Share Index has added 11,195
points, for a gain of 122%.
A rarity for food stocks in a bull
market, the G.B.F. index outperformed
each of the other major market indices in 2014. The 16.8% gain bested
the Standard and Poor's 500 Index
- up 11.4%; the Dow Jones average
of industrial shares, up 7.5%; and the
Nasdaq composite index, up 13.4%.

The Grain-Based Foods Share Index also outperformed global stock
indexes. The 17% gain compared with
an advance of 1.5% in the All Country World Index (ACWI). The MSCI
Emerging Markets Index in 2014 was
down 6% during the year.
Additionally, grain-based shares
were strong when measured against
Continued on Page 20

Winter wheat seeded area 5%
smaller than in 2014
WASHINGTON - The National Agricultural Statistics Service of the U.S.
Department of Agriculture on Jan. 12
estimated the area seeded to winter
wheat for harvest in 2015 at 40,452,000
acres, down 5% from 42,399,000 acres
in 2014. It was the smallest winter
wheat area since 36,576,000 acres in
2010 and compared with 41.8 million

acres as the recent five-year average.
The U.S.D.A. estimate fell well below
the average of pre-report trade estimates at 42.7 million acres. In fact, the
official estimate was below the lowest
of pre-report trade estimates provided
in a recent survey.
The U.S.D.A. estimated hard red
winter wheat plantings at 29.5 million
acres, down 3% from 2014. It was the
smallest hard winter wheat area since
28.5 million acres in 2011 and compared
with 29.3 million acres as the recent
five-year average.
The U.S.D.A. said in commentary
accompanying the report, "Acreage
changes from last year are mixed across
Continued on Page 33
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Milling & Baking News - January 20, 2015

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