Cattle futures firm as funds take long positions - CME
April lean hog contract falls for third straight day
21 March 2025
2 minute read
By: Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) cattle futures firmed on Thursday as funds built long positions after a rally Wednesday driven by slowed slaughter operations, reported Reuters, citing analysts.
CME June live cattle ended up 2.175 cents at 205.025 cents per pound to reach lifetime highs for a second day in a row.
CME April feeder cattle settled up 1.725 cents at 288.450 cents per pound, reaching life of contract highs for a third day in a row.
After a trend toward liquidation in February, the funds are now building back long positions in cattle, said Austin Schroeder, commodity analyst with Brugler Marketing and Management.
High winds and blizzard conditions in Kansas and Nebraska lead to road closures earlier in the week, including Interstate 80 in Nebraska, which slowed down movement of cattle to major packing plants and delayed slaughter operations, according to analysts.
The US Department of Agriculture reported a daily cattle slaughter of 96,000 on Wednesday, down from 123,000 on Tuesday. On Thursday it had climbed back to 114,000, but was still down from 121,000 a week ago.
In wholesale values, USDA reported choice cuts of boxed beef fell $1.55 to $328.06 per hundredweight(cwt) on Thursday afternoon, and select cuts rose $0.68 to $309.36.
Traders also awaited the release of the USDA's monthly cattle on feed report, due Friday, which is expected to show February cattle placements down 14% from last year, according to an average of estimates in a Reuters poll of analysts.
CME's April lean hog contract fell for a third day in a row, settling down 0.025 cent at 85.550 cents per pound.
In wholesale pork, carcasses rose $0.67 on Thursday afternoon to $95.86 per cwt, according to USDA, and the lean hog index price for the two days ending on March 18 was at $89.41.
