Thursday markets
The grain sector was up sharply, with corn reaching limit up, pulling feeder cattle lower. A modest gain in boxed beef prices and robust export sales gave some support to live cattle.
Live cattle futures traded mixed, with the June contract down a dime to $116.35 and the August contract up a dime to $119.42.
It appears the bulk of the cash trade is done for the week, as 1,991 head sold. Live steers sold for $119 and dressed steers averaged $190.51. Trade mainly was inactive in the Southern Plains, Nebraska and western Corn Belt. In the Texas Panhandle, live purchases traded from $116-120 and Kansas live purchases traded from $119-120. On the formula side, 25,500 head averaging 847 lbs. sold for $194.83.
“Packer margins remain huge and optics continue to support cash prices and that will continue to be the case until boxed beef prices fall significantly,” Cassie Fish, market analyst for The Beef, wrote this morning. “Even then, the packer is unlikely to pummel cash prices regardless, due to the number of eyeballs watching the sector.”
Boxed beef prices were higher on 102 loads, with the Choice cutout up 49 cents to $329.98 and the Select cutout higher 5 cents to $302.10.
Today’s slaughter is projected to be 121,000 head, 2,000 head above last week. According to Fish, this week’s Saturday slaughter is estimated to be smaller than last week, “resulting in a 645,000 head kill at best.”
Beef export net sales were 27,887 metric tons (mt) reported for the week of May 20—the third largest of the year and up 19 percent from the previous week. The three largest buyers were China (9,000 mt), Japan (8,800 mt) and South Korea (6,000 mt). The USDA adjusted last week’s export report lower as the shipment to the Netherlands was misreported by 33,589 mt for the week ended May 13.
Feeder cattle
Feeder cattle traded lower, with the May contract down 20 cents to $136.30 and the August contract sharply lower $2.35 to $152.85. The CME Feeder Cattle Index was up 22 cents to $136.57.
The July corn contract closed the limit up of 40 cents to $6.64 a bushel and the September contract was up 38 cents to $5.85. Thursday’s Export Sales report showed 555,918 mt for old crop corn bookings, with 378,000 mt sold to Mexico and 168,000 mt to China.
Oklahoma: OKC West Livestock Auction in El Reno sold 9,389 head on Wednesday. Compared to the previous auction, feeder steers sold mostly steady to $2 higher and heifers traded $2-4 higher. Benchmark steers averaging 831 lbs. traded between $134-139.75.
Kansas: Pratt Livestock in Pratt sold 3,400 head on Thursday. Compared to the last auction, feeder steers 750-1,000 lbs. sold $1-2 lower and heifers 675-1,000 lbs. sold $1-2 higher. Benchmark steers averaging 775 lbs. sold between $134.50-137.25.
California: Cattlemen’s Livestock Market in Galt sold 2,181 head on Wednesday. Compared to the previous auction, feeder cattle were steady. Steers 600-700 lbs. sold between $130-154. — Charles Wallace, WLJ editor
