Food Prices Accelerate & Grains Stumble

Market Line May 18, 2009

Supermarkets appear to have lost some of their pricing power as U.S. retail food prices accelerated their declines in April while wholesale prices took a sharp turn up. Friday, the Labor Department said the food-at-home consumer price index fell 0.6% in April, as retail prices for dairy products, cereal and baked goods dropped. In contrast, the producer price index for finished foods rose 1.5% last month.

Friday was not a good day for the grain markets. Corn futures stumbled ending at session lows amid strong outside markets and overbought conditions. Terry Linn with the Linn Group.

LINN: A tough end to the week in the grain markets with sharp corrections all around the Chicago Board of Trade. Traders attributed the sell-off to profit taking and risk aversion heading into the weekend with additional pressure from outside markets and a weather outlook that many consider turning bearish next week for corn.

On Wednesday Chicago July wheat was down 15 ¾ at 577 1/2

July corn off 11 at 417 1/4

Portland soft white wheat closed $5.65  -5.75 up 5

Club wheat mostly 5.70 up 5 to 7

HRW 11.5 % protein mostly 6.68 unch

DNS 14% protein mostly 8.23 up 8

June live cattle 82.375 dn .425

August feeders unchanged

June Class III milk closed 10.32 dn .09

I’m Greg Martin and that’s Market Line on the Northwest Ag Information Network.