Chicago | Reuters — U.S. lean hog futures fell on Tuesday for a second straight session, pressured by technical selling, ample pork supplies and worries that trade tensions with China and Mexico will curb export demand, traders said.
“We still have cheaper grain, increased (hog) weight potential down the line — all of the above is just coming at us in the hog market,” said Jason Roose, analyst with U.S. Commodities.
Most active CME October hogs settled down 1.8 cents at 52.2 cents/lb., while August hogs fell 1.3 cent at 67.9 cents after notching a contract low at 67.725 cents (all figures US$).
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Live cattle futures closed lower after a seesaw session as pressure from rising cattle supplies overshadowed support from ideas that the nearby futures contract is undervalued versus the cash market.
CME August live cattle closed Tuesday down 0.5 cent at 106.425 cents/lb., while fed cattle traded late Friday in Texas and Kansas at $111/cwt.
Cattle futures “are going to basically stay where we are until they start to get closer to cash, or unless the cash breaks,” said Oak Investment Group president Joe Ocrant.
CME October live cattle fell 0.15 cent to 108.5 cents.
CME August feeder cattle futures settled down 1.1 cents at 151.275 cents/lb. and September feeders fell 0.75 cent at 151.7 cents.
Livestock traders are awaiting direction from two big U.S. Department of Agriculture reports due Friday, including the government’s monthly Cattle on Feed report and its semiannual cattle inventory report.
— Julie Ingwersen is a Reuters commodities correspondent in Chicago.
