Live cattle futures hit July high - CME
October lean hog futures end up
8 September 2023
2 minute read
By: Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) live cattle futures climbed to a July high on Thursday while feeder cattle set new contract highs, reported Reuters.
Tight supplies continue to support the markets, analysts said, after US producers reduced their cattle herds over the last year as drought limited the availability of pastures for grazing.
October live cattle advanced 0.950 cent to close at 183.650 cents per pound and touched their highest price since July 20 at 184.525 cents.
October feeder cattle finished up 2.4 cents at 258.875 cents per pound and reached a contract high of 259.475 cents.
The markets extended strong gains from Wednesday.
Expectations that a rally in cash cattle prices may restart in a few weeks are supportive for futures, said Rich Nelson, chief strategist for brokerage Allendale.
Nelson said cash cattle traded lower than last week in Nebraska on a dressed basis. However, there was talk of cash trades of $184 per cwt in Nebraska on a live basis, which would be up from about $182-$183 per cwt last week, he said.
Brokers added that small volumes traded in Kansas at $179 per cwt, up about $1 from last week.
Boxed beef prices weakened further, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) said. Choice cuts dropped another $1.91 to $311.66 per cwt and select cuts decreased $1.44 to $286.17 per cwt.
The USDA separately quoted the wholesale pork carcass cutout at $94.21 per cwt, down $4.12 from Wednesday.
October lean hog futures ended up 0.950 cent at 82.825 cents per pound at the CME and stayed within Wednesday's trading range.
Traders on Friday will review weekly US export sales data for pork and beef.
