Chicago Mercantile Exchange cattle futures extended gains on Tuesday while hogs lost ground.
Most active April live cattle closed at 195.725 cents per pound, up 0.625 cents. June live cattle settled at 192.250 cents a pound, up 0.850 cents.
Most active April feeder cattle futures gained 1.775 cents per pound to settle at 273.800 cents. March feeder cattle closed at 274.225 cents per pound, up 1.925 cents.
Choice boxed beef was valued at $314.32 per cwt, up $0.59. Select boxed beef came in at $304.13 per cwt, up $0.16.
The U.S. is seeing a build-up of market-ready fed cattle, said analyst Jerry Klassen. The opposite is true in Western Canada. Fed cattle supplies in Alberta and Saskatchewan are extremely tight.
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“The function of the Western Canadian feeder cattle market is to ration demand by trading at a premium to U.S. values,” Klassen said.
Most active April lean hog futures closed at 86.575 cents per pound, down 0.825 cents. June lean hogs settled at 99.100 cents per pound, down 0.825 cents.
At time of writing, the USDA had not published daily Pork FOB Plant values, citing packer submission issues. In its morning report, pork carcass cutout sat at $96.58.
