Meat and bone meal (MBM) prices paused this week with trading reported sideways on both ruminant and porcine MBM out of the Missouri River markets. The December soybean meal market was  up slightly today, settling unchanged at $388.10. Soybean meal prices should offer nearby support to the market, but the rally in animal protein prices may be put on pause in the near term due to strong production and the potential for export difficulties tied to container shortages.

Looking at history, over the last five years, prices were lower in all five instances in the week before the Thanksgiving holiday, but steady to higher in three of the last five years heading into the Christmas break. With soybean harvest coming in and basis pressure, the fourth quarter has typically been one of lower prices for the animal proteins market. Bullish crop reports and surging COVID numbers have reversed that trend across the animal co-product spectrum. Hog slaughter is expected to continue to…