Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures turned higher on Friday amid a flurry of technical trading, even as beef prices continued to see a seasonal downturn, traders said.
Cash cattle market trades this week continued to be down $2-$3 per hundredweight (cwt), traders said (all figures US$).
The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Friday morning reported prices of choice cuts at $306.14/cwt, down 77 cents from Thursday. Select cuts were priced at $277.80/cwt, down $2.38 from Thursday.
“Beef packer margins are getting to a break-even point, too,” said Don Roose, president of Iowa-based U.S. Commodities.
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High cash cattle prices and the slide in wholesale beef prices have cut meat packers’ profit margins to $2.80 per head of cattle on Friday, from $74.80 a week ago, according to livestock marketing advisory service HedgersEdge.com.
Meanwhile, CME lean hog futures were mixed, with nearby contracts ticking lower and deferred months ending higher on recent rising wholesale pork prices and cash hog values, traders said.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) quoted the wholesale pork carcass cutout at $115.74/cwt on Friday morning, up $4.84 from a day earlier, while pork bellies rose $7.38, to $182.30/cwt.
“For lean hog futures, I think the run-up has stalled out fundamentally for the summer months,” Roose said.
CME August lean hogs settled down 0.3 cent at 96.2 cents/lb., and the October contract ended up 0.25 cent at 83.6 cents.
CME August live cattle futures settled 3.275 cents higher at 180.175 cents/lb., while October cattle ended up 2.525 cents at 182.625 cents.
August feeder cattle futures settled up 1.65 cents at 246.65 cents/lb.
— P.J. Huffstutter reports on agriculture and agribusiness for Reuters from Chicago.
