We’re in the midst of another unique trading week, with markets closed Thursday for the New Year’s holiday. But normal trading will resume uninterrupted for a couple of weeks, starting on Monday, January 5, and traders are hoping to gain a much clearer understanding of the state of the markets during that period.
The new year could also produce some headlines in the cattle sector. Brian Hoops, Midwest Market Solution President, says there are talks of the U.S.-Mexico border reopening for cattle trade in the coming weeks, but he also acknowledges most of those discussions have been based on rumors. “We really have heard very little legit news about it,” he says. “There’s been a lot of talk and rumors that the border inspection sites have actually been inspected. They’re kind of getting prepared to see if it will pass inspection and if it can handle some cattle coming across. So that kind of will open up some new headlines, some new algorithm type of risk loss type trade.”
"The biggest problem was still all the cattle that you can’t track coming into Mexico, not necessarily just the ones from Mexico, and until we can really put a nail in that coffin, it’s going to be kind of a chunky road getting back on."
The southern border was shut earlier this year on concerns of New World Screwworm. And while it’s still a threat, other traders say the markets have eased somewhat since the first detection in Mexico, months ago. Cornbelt Marketing VP Sam Hudson says that “we’re coming to the realization that this wasn’t just a short-term problem, and I think that’s how it was kind of advertised coming out of the gate. The biggest problem was still all the cattle that you can’t track coming into Mexico, not necessarily just the ones from Mexico, and until we can really put a nail in that coffin, it’s going to be kind of a chunky road getting back on.” Hudson also says that it will be interesting to see how the markets adjust and adapt to the situation going forward, given the large number of cattle that have accumulated just south of the border.
Earlier this month, Mexico’s Ag Minister said 99.9%of cases there have been contained since last November. It was that outbreak that triggered the U.S border closure back in May. To date, Mexican officials say they’ve spent more than $65 million fighting the parasite.