Friday markets
The cattle market closed mixed heading into the weekend, with trading hesitant ahead of the anticipated JBS strike beginning Monday.
Live cattle futures closed lower. The April contract lost 35 cents to close at $230.90, and the June contract lost 42 cents to close at $228.95.
Cash trade for the day was about 2,000 head at the afternoon mark. Live steers sold from $234-236. There was no trend noted for dressed steers. Total trade for the entire week was about 40,000 head.
“It’s likely trade volumes will remain light this week as there’s expected to be a plant strike starting on Monday at the JBS plant in Greeley, CO,” said ShayLe Stewart, DTN livestock analyst, in her midday comments.
Slaughter for the day is estimated at 86,000 head, compared to 88,000 head a week ago. With tomorrow’s slaughter expected at 17,000 head, total slaughter for the week is projected at 525,000 head, compared to 521,000 a week earlier.
Boxed beef prices were higher on 53 loads. The Choice cutout gained 83 cents to close at $397.92, and the Select cutout gained 72 cents to close at $391.54.
Feeder cattle
Feeder cattle futures were higher, up $1.25 to $349.47 on the March contract and up 10 cents to $343.10 on the April contract.
“The feeder cattle complex is fully higher moving into Friday’s noon hour as traders seem confident allowing the contracts to scale mildly higher even though the market’s fundamentals haven’t been overly supportive this week,” Stewart said.
The CME Feeder Cattle Index lost $3.83 to close at $360.97.
Corn futures were higher, with the March contract up 4 cents to $4.52 and the May contract up 4 cents to $4.67. — Anna Miller Fortozo, WLJ managing editor
