13 September 2023

2 minute read

By: Global Ag Media

North America

Most of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) feeder and live cattle futures hit new contract highs again on Tuesday, as tight US supplies and forecast of a strong cash market added fuel to a bull rally, Reuters reported, citing traders.

But by the end of the session, both live and feeder cattle futures were mixed on profit-taking and technical trading, analysts said.

The hog market mostly turned up, following cattle, with CME October lean hog futures settled the day up 2.722 cents at 85.275 cents per pound.

It was a volatile day of trading, traders said, as a sharp drop in US corn futures bolstered both cattle futures and cash markets, analysts said.

Chicago Board of Trade corn futures dropped sharply on Tuesday after the US Department of Agriculture's monthly World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) report said crops were not hampered as much as traders expected by hot and dry weather this summer.

The low corn prices may convince farmers to keep more of their animals on feed, which could push buyers to pay, said Don Roose, president of Iowa-based broker US Commodities.

The WASDE report also boosted cattle futures, when it kept its forecast for cash cattle prices this year and next unchanged, analysts said.

For fourth-quarter of 2023, USDA forecast cash cattle price at $190 per hundredweight (cwt). They're currently trading at $186 per cwt in the corn belt and $182 per cwt in the Plains, Roose said.

Boxed beef prices fell for a second day - with choice cuts down by $2.08 to $308.03 per cwt, and select cuts down $1.66 to $283.78 per cwt, the USDA said separately.

CME October feeder cattle futures settled down 0.200-cent at 261.250 cents per pound. It reached a new contract high of 262.075 cents during the session.

Nearby October live cattle settled down 0.075-cent at 184.150 cents per pound.