Chicago | Reuters — U.S. live cattle futures climbed to contract and multi-year highs on Monday on optimism about firming cash cattle prices and tightening U.S. cattle supplies.
Most-active April live cattle futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange settled up 1.15 cents at 165.1 cents/lb. after recording a contract high at 165.25 cents. Front-month February finished up 1.075 cents at 162.275 cents/lb., the highest on a continuous chart of the spot futures contract since April 2015.
CME March feeder cattle futures ended up 0.8 cent at 187.2 cents/lb.
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Live cattle futures got a boost after market-ready cattle traded at $160-$161 per hundredweight (cwt) late last week in southern Plains cash markets, up $1-$2 from the previous week, traders said.
Beef prices strengthened, with choice cuts rising for a sixth straight day to $269.95/cwt, up 29 cents from Friday. Select cuts were up $1.92 at $256.21, according to U.S. Agriculture Department data.
In South America, Argentina’s economy ministry announced a price control program to bring down the cost of popular beef cuts amid ongoing high inflation. During a press conference, an economy ministry official said some popular cuts of meat would see prices drop around 30 per cent.
In the U.S. hog market, benchmark CME April hogs jumped 3.025 cents to settle at 86.35 cents/lb., while June hogs rose 2.6 cents to end at 104.25 cents.
The USDA priced pork carcasses at $81.74/cwt Monday afternoon, up 69 cents from Friday.
— Julie Ingwersen is a Reuters commodities correspondent in Chicago.
