Live and feeder cattle futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange on Tuesday recovered their losses from Monday. However, lean hog prices were mixed.
August live cattle gained US$3.050 per hundredweight to close at US$222.400/cwt. Tuesday’s high of US$222.750 was the contract’s second-highest daily high ever behind US$223.275 on Friday. The October live cattle contract added US$2.500/cwt to end the day at US$219.275.
The United States Department of Agriculture estimated Monday’s cattle slaughter at 112,000 head, 2,000 less than the previous Monday and 5,427 less than in the same day last year.
Prices for choice and select boxes went in opposite directions. Choice boxes added 63 U.S. cents/cwt at US$377.70 this afternoon, while select boxes dropped US$2 at US$362.58/cwt.
The spread between August and October lean hog prices grew on Tuesday. August lean hogs increased by 70 U.S. cents/cwt at US$103.925, while the October contract declined by 20 cents at US$87.475/cwt. Its low of US$86.025 on Tuesday was the lowest value for the contract since late May.
