Thursday markets
Cattle futures closed markedly lower, erasing most of the gains made during the week.
“An unexpected drop in the rib primal price this morning helped knock the Choice cutout over $5/cwt, surprising cattle traders and putting pressure on CME cattle futures,” wrote Cassie Fish, market analyst, in The Beef. “The intra-day technical indicators were due a correction anyway and they got one today in spades with some contract months down over 500 points at one time during the session.”
Live cattle futures closed lower, with the August contract down $2.95 to $231.22 and the October contract down $4.55 to $224.92.
Cash trade was active, with 30,616 head sold. Live steers sold for $235-237.50, and dressed steers sold for $370-380. On the formula side, 23,800 head averaging 950 lbs. sold for an average of $369.93.
“The lower cutout value, especially in the face of the small slaughter of late, encouraged cattle feeders in the South to sell inventory today at $235/cwt,” Fish wrote. “The North already traded cattle yesterday, mostly at $235 live and $370 dressed. Cattle feeders had wanted even more but ended up getting $2/cwt more than last week and $5/more than the low two weeks ago.”
Today’s slaughter is estimated to be 107,000 head, up 5,000 head from last week.
Actual slaughter for the week ending July 25 was 525,629 head. The average steer dressed weight was 962 lbs., down 3 lbs. from the prior week.
Boxed beef prices were mixed on 118 loads, with the Choice cutout down $4.11 to $363.86 and the Select cutout up $1.72 to $349.78.
Feeder cattle
Feeder cattle also closed lower, with the August contract down $5.27 to $348.05 and the September contract $6.80 lower to $341.57.
The CME Feeder Cattle Index was down 48 cents to $348.65.
Corn futures closed higher, with the September and December contracts up 2 cents to $4.39 and $4.62, respectively.
Kansas: Winter Livestock in Dodge City sold 490 head on Wednesday. Compared to the last auction two weeks ago, there were not enough comparable sales for an accurate trend. Benchmark steers averaging 706 lbs. sold from $383-389.50, averaging $388.91.
New Mexico: Clovis Livestock in Clovis sold 1,418 head on Wednesday. Compared to the last auction, steer calves sold $10-20 higher, except 550-600 lbs. traded $7 lower. Feeder steers sold steady to $12 lower, with a few higher. Heifer calves and feeder heifers sold higher. Benchmark steers averaging 731 lbs. sold from $330-340, averaging $336.
Oklahoma: OKC West in El Reno sold 3,771 head on Wednesday. Compared to the last auction, feeder steers and heifers sold $10-20 higher. Feeder heifer quality was better than feeder steer quality. Steer calves sold $10-15 higher, and heifer calves traded $15-20 higher. Benchmark steers averaging 731 lbs. sold from $357.50-377.50, averaging $368.75. — Charles Wallace, WLJ contributing editor
