Thursday markets
Cattle markets were fundamentally unable to move much higher today. Cash trade averaged around $120, and boxed beef prices continue to increase.
Live cattle futures were in the red today: The August contract lost 57 cents to $122.50 and the October contract lost 37 cents to $128.15.
Cash trade volume was up today, with 28,470 head trading hands. Live steers sold between $120-124, averaging $120.58. Dressed steers sold between $195-201, averaging $196.41. On the formula side, a total of 28,100 head averaging 867 lbs. sold for $195.02.
Slaughter is estimated at 119,000 head, bringing the week’s total to 477,000 head.
Boxed beef prices are higher still on 112 loads. The Choice cutout gained $2.06 to $275.22 and the Select cutout gained 70 cents to $256.82.
“You could argue the market’s higher boxed beef prices should be a rallying torch; and it most certainly adds positive steam to the market’s current,” wrote ShayLe Stewart, DTN livestock analyst, in her midday comments. “But without seeing substantially higher cash cattle trade, the market is still left with some unsupported sides.”
Beef sales were down 11 percent from last week at 22,500 metric tons (mt), but up 28 percent from the prior four-week average. The three largest buyers South Korea (8,200 mt), Japan (6,100 mt) and China (4,500 mt).
Feeder cattle
Feeders hit a wall today and futures lost about a dollar and a half each. The August contract was down $1.67 to $158.50 and the September contract lost $1.50 to $161.95. The CME Feeder Cattle Index lost 36 cents and closed at $154.
Corn prices found a little support, with the September contract up 8 cents to $5.58 and the December contract up 7 cents to $5.56.
“The feeder cattle contracts do see that the cash cattle market is trading about $1.00 higher in the South and that boxed beef prices are continuing to trade higher; but with the day’s rally in the corn market, the complex is still skeptical and on edge,” Stewart wrote earlier in the day.
Kansas: Winter Livestock in Dodge City sold 546 head Wednesday. Compared to the prior sale, there were not enough steers and heifers for a market test, but a steady trend was noted. Benchmark steers averaging 744 lbs. sold for $144.50.
Nebraska: Bassett Livestock Auction in Nebraska sold 6,790 head Wednesday. Compared to the sale two weeks earlier, steers 500-600 lbs. traded unevenly steady; 750-1,000-lb. steers traded steady to $6 lower; and comparable heifer offerings traded unevenly steady. Benchmark steers averaging 740 lbs. sold between $168.25-178.25, and averaged $171.06. — Anna Miller, WLJ managing editor
