TOP STORIES

Restaurant Brands Recovers Majority of Sales -- Market Talk

0858 ET - Restaurant Brands International says the fast-food parent company has reopened 93% of its restaurants globally since the pandemic and is back to 90% of system-wide sales. Executives speaking at an investor conference this week say they still intend to add Burger King, Tim Hortons and Popeyes locations across the world. The company Wednesday issues roughly $796 million in bonds, joining other companies in issuing debt during the pandemic. (heather.haddon@wsj.com; @heatherhaddon)

STORIES OF INTEREST

Export Sales Expected to Stay Strong -- Market Talk

12:59 ET - Export sales reported by the USDA tomorrow morning are expected to continue to be strong. According to a survey of grains traders by WSJ, corn export sales are expected to total anywhere from 750,000 metric tons to 2.2M tons, while soybean sales are expected to rise as high as 2.8M tons. In both cases, increased sales of exports to China are expected to be the main driver for the high figures. However, both totals will likely be lower than last week's gargantuan figures of 3.1M tons and 5.7M tons, respectively. Those figure included sales announced in the 2019/20 marketing year that have yet to be delivered--something grains traders are watching closely. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com; @kirkmaltais)

Expectations of Continued Strong Chinese Buying Lifts Soybeans -- Market Talk

14:15 ET - Soybean futures trading on the CBOT are elevated again Wednesday, up 2.1% as grains traders are hopeful that China's export appetite will be more robust than previously thought. "China has been a buyer of US soybeans on nearly every day since mid-August," says AgResource. "The almost insatiable China demand for soybeans has some raising the total amount of US soybeans that China will secure to 30-32 million metric tons." Grains traders surveyed by The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday say that they expect Thursday's export sales report from the USDA showing China buying as much as 2.8 million metric tons of US soybean exports. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com; @kirkmaltais)

FUTURES MARKETS

Hog Futures Step Back For Third Consecutive Session -- Market Talk

15:17 ET - Lean hog futures on the CME closed down 1.7% to 61.975 cents per pound Wednesday. That makes it the third consecutive session that hog futures have finished lower this week, making it 7.4% that hog futures have fallen in the past three days alone. Even so, the most-active contract is still up 18.1% since the start of the month. Meanwhile, live cattle futures fell 0.4% to $1.06725 per pound. (kirk.maltais@wsj.com; @kirkmaltais)

CASH MARKETS


 
Estimated U.S. Pork Packer Margin Index - Sep 16 
 
All figures are on a per-head basis. 
 
Date     Standard Margin       Estimated margin 
         Operating Index         at vertically - 
                             integrated operations 
 
Sep 16       +$ 38.36            +$ 50.53 
Sep 15       +$ 45.19            +$ 52.91 
Sep 11       +$ 53.58            +$ 46.20 
 
* Based on Iowa State University's latest estimated cost of production. 
A positive number indicates a processing margin above the cost of production of the animals. 
 
Beef-O-Meter 
This report compares the USDA's latest beef carcass composite 
values as a percentage of their respective year-ago prices. 
 
                                  Beef 
          For Today              Choice   98.0 
      (Percent of Year-Ago)      Select  105.5 
 
USDA Boxed Beef, Pork Reports 
 

Wholesale choice-grade beef prices Wednesday fell 71 cents per hundred pounds, to $215.38, according to the USDA. Select-grade prices fell $1.77 per hundred pounds, to $204.51. The total load count was 166. Wholesale pork prices fell $1.11, to $82.57 a hundred pounds, based on Omaha, Neb., price quotes.