US cattle futures consolidate near peaks - CME
Hog futures fall
10 June 2022
2 minute read
Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) Group cattle futures stabilised near recent highs on Thursday, with strong cash markets and a round of speculative buying underpinning prices, reported Reuters.
Hog futures fell as the soybean futures market rallied to its highest in nearly 10 years, raising the prospect of higher feed costs.
The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) said on Thursday morning export sales of beef totalled 18,100 tonnes in the week ended 2 June, unchanged from a week earlier.
Pork export sales fell to 16,700 tonnes from 31,900 tonnes.
US beef processors on Thursday slaughtered an estimated 126,000 cattle, the same as Wednesday's total and up from 122,000 a year ago, USDA said. Hog slaughter was reported at 476,000 compared to 482,000 last year.
CME June live cattle rose 0.225 cent to settle at 137.05 cents. The most-active August live cattle dropped 0.325 cent to 137.2 cents after peaking at its highest since 27 April.
CME August feeder cattle gained 0.375 cent to 176.025 cents per pound. On a continuous basis, front month fed cattle hit its highest since 12 November 2015.
Most-active July lean hog futures fell 2.95 cents to 105 cents per pound.
Prices for choice cuts of boxed beef were reported at $271.10 per 100 lbs on Thursday afternoon, down 64 cents from Wednesday afternoon while select cuts gained 20 cents to $249.61 per 100 lbs.
Carcass values in the US pork cutout rose by $4.62 to $109.09 per 100 lbs, while belly values jumped $17.55 to $155.18 per 100 lbs, the USDA said.
Source: Reuters
