US live cattle futures steady to weak - CME
Hog futures drop on ample supply
30 January 2023
1 minute read
By: US hog futures eased on Friday, with ample supplies weighing on prices due to a heavy pace of slaughter this year, reported Reuters.
Live cattle futures were steady to weak in range-bound trade, with light activity in the cash market hanging over prices.
February lean hog futures dropped 1.15 cents to 75.875 cents per lb, but managed to stay above the 13-month low of 75.6 cents that the front-month contract hit on Thursday.
Most-active April hogs dropped 0.55 cent to 86.45 cents per lb. Technical support was noted at the contract's 10-day moving average.
For the week, April hog futures rose 0.8%, snapping a string of four straight weekly losses.
Hog slaughter has totalled 10.102 million head so far in January, the US Department of Agriculture said on Friday. That was up 2.2% from the same period of 2022.
Separately, the USDA reported pork carcass prices at $79.04 per hundredweight (cwt) on Friday morning, $1.42 lower than the price on Thursday afternoon.
CME February live cattle settled unchanged at 156.725 cents per pound, and most-active April was up 0.3 cent to 160.825 cents per pound.
April live cattle futures posted a weekly gain of 0.6%.
CME March feeder cattle futures gained 0.625 cent to settle at 183.475 cents per pound.
