Question-and-Answer Session
Operator
Thank you. (Operator Instructions). First question comes from Ken Goldman with JP Morgan. Sir your line is open.
Ken Goldman - JP Morgan
Good morning.
Dennis Leatherby
Morning Ken
Ken Goldman - JP Morgan
A question about pork. You said, even though there is limited visibility that pork will do well all year, there is some evidence out there. I know it's early, that maybe global demand for pork is starting to slip a little bit. Can you talk a little bit about that what you are seeing and maybe if it's true or not true, and where you are seeing some strength continuing?
Dennis Leatherby
Well Ken, I would tell you that, again going back first to supply, I think that supply will be very good even though it might be down a little bit. We had record supplies of pork in '08. So while '09 might be down a couple percentage points.
I still think there is going to be plenty of pork again to run our plants efficiently. If we think about the export markets, I think China right now is probably an area that has slipped a little bit post the Olympics, but we are still seeing very strong demand in Mexico as a prime example.
We are still seeing very strong demand in Asia primarily in Japan and South Korea, and Russia is probably an area where we have still seen reasonably good volume, and who knows what's going happen there in the short-term. But again it goes back to the factor that countries import protein because they need it to feed their people.
So, we are very confident that the export markets overall will continue to be strong in fiscal '09 and I just think we are running a very, very solid pork business right now.
Ken Goldman - JP Morgan
Okay, and then can you give us some idea of just how bad chicken will be for you in the first fiscal quarter? It's hard for us to get an exact idea, where your hedges are and so forth, but I know, you don’t provide exact guidance, but some conversation a little bit about specificity, I think would help investors.
Dick Bond
Well, I won't give you any exact numbers. I'll just talk for the hedges for a minute. The hedges and around the hedge activity will be dependent again on what corn and soybean meal prices are at the end of December. I don't know what they are going to be. Nobody knows what they are going to be and that's a huge factor in terms of mark-to-market end results for chicken in Q1.
- To read the full transcript on Seeking Alpha, click here »
