U.S. livestock: CME feeder cattle slump to lowest in over a month
December live cattle down, hogs up
| 2 min read
By Tom Polansek
CME November 2023 feeder cattle with Bollinger bands (20,2). (Barchart)
Chicago | Reuters — Feeder cattle futures slid to their lowest level in more than a month at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange on Wednesday, while live cattle futures neared a two-week low.
Fund liquidation and technical selling pushed down prices, brokers said. Some market participants booked profits before the end of the month and quarter, and ahead of a possible U.S. government shutdown, they said.
October feeder cattle hit their lowest price since Aug. 24 at 251.625 cents/lb. before closing 1.625 cents lower at 252.25 cents/lb. (all figures US$).
Most-active November feeders ended down 2.075 cents at 254.8 cents/lb. after reaching their lowest price since Aug. 25 at 254.35 cents/lb.
For live cattle futures, the most-active December contract hit its lowest price since Sept. 14 at 187.725 cents/lb. and closed down 0.3 cent at 188.175 cents/lb.
Follow-through selling pressured prices, said Dennis Smith, commodity broker for Archer Financial Services.
“Yesterday it was a fund dump day,” Smith said. “This is simply a flush.”
On Thursday, livestock traders will review weekly U.S. beef and pork export sales data.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is separately slated to issue a quarterly Hogs and Pigs report on Thursday that analysts expect will show the nation’s herd was slightly smaller on Sept. 1 than a year earlier. Producers have struggled with losing money this year due to weak pig prices and high operational costs.
“We’re liquidating the herd,” Smith said.
In China, the sow herd in August fell 0.7 per cent against the prior month, while the herd of breeding females was 1.9 per cent lower, China’s ministry of agriculture and rural affairs said. The number of pigs slaughtered at big facilities in China, the world’s largest pork producer and consumer, was 22.1 per cent higher in August than a year earlier.
Most-active CME December lean hogs rose 0.425 cent to finish at 72.775 cents/lb.
— Tom Polansek reports on agriculture and ag commodities for Reuters from Chicago.
