Chicago | Reuters — Live cattle futures at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange fell on Wednesday during thin pre-Thanksgiving trade, though analysts said market fundamentals remains supportive.
The Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) will be closed on Thursday for the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday.
Reductions in beef cold storage supplies last month should be supportive after the Thanksgiving holiday, said Altin Kalo, economist at Steiner Consulting Group.
“There’s more beef out there, but the drawdown in inventory was quite substantial in October,” he said.
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Boxed beef values were mixed on Wednesday, with choice cuts falling $3.22, to $253.41/cwt, while select cuts gained 33 cents, to $234.51, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said (all figures US$).
Most-active CME February live cattle futures eased one cent, to 155.425 cents/lb. Nearby December live cattle fell 0.45 cent to finish at 153.35 cents/lb.
CME January feeder cattle lost 2.425 cents to 179.25 cents/lb.
CME lean hog futures also eased on Wednesday, though Kalo noted underlying support in hogs as well.
“The thing that sticks out the most to me is what’s going on with hog carcass weights. Usually you see those moving higher this time of year, and they’re not. that tells you the producer is pretty current.”
The most-active February lean hogs contract settled 1.275 cents lower at 88.8 cents/lb.
— Christopher Walljasper reports on agriculture and ag commodities for Reuters from Chicago.
