Chicago | Reuters – Chicago Mercantile Exchange cattle futures rallied on Friday as two new screwworm cases were announced in Mexico in two days, keeping the focus on tight cattle supplies.
CME February live cattle LCG26 settled 4.400 cents higher at 236.000 cents per pound, having hit the highest peak since October 24, and March feeder cattle FCH26 settled 7.625 cents higher at 352.950 cents per pound, also having reached the highest since October 24.
A case of New World screwworm was detected in a goat in Mexico’s central state of Mexico, the country’s agricultural ministry said late on Thursday evening.
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On December 31, the ministry reported a case in a cow in the northern state of Tamaulipas.
Both animals that tested positive for the pest were treated and were the only animals at their sites infected, the ministry said.
The U.S. border is currently closed to cattle imports from Mexico because of the screwworm infestation.
“This suggests that we will not see the border with Mexico reopen anytime soon for feeder cattle to come north to U.S. feedlots, keeping Southern Plains lots relatively empty for the foreseeable future and U.S. cattle supplies tight,” said Arlan Suderman, chief commodities economist at StoneX Group, in a newsletter on Friday.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported on Friday afternoon that boxed beef values rose $2.52 to $349.97 per hundredweight for choice cuts and $4.54 to $346.92 per cwt for select cuts.
CME benchmark February lean hog futures LHG26 fell 1.000 cent to 84.100 cents per pound.
The USDA on Friday afternoon reported pork carcasses rose $0.83 to $94.57 per cwt and bellies fell $1.38 to $121.12 per cwt.
-Reporting by Renee Hickman
