Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures scaled to life-of-contract highs on Friday on firmer cash market prices and tight supplies of market-ready animals, traders said.
Feeder cattle futures also posted contract highs across the board, drawing additional support from weaker feed corn prices.
Feedlot cattle in the central and southern U.S. Plains traded at higher prices this week, according to traders and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) data. Average prices ranged from mostly $183/cwt in southern areas to $184-$185 further north, both up from a week ago (all figures US$).
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“We’ve seen some stronger cash trade and that’s the main reason futures are up,” said Austin Schroeder, analyst with Brugler Marketing & Management.
“Slaughter-ready cattle numbers are still fairly tight and that’s giving feedlots a little bit of leverage to push the cash higher,” he said.
October live cattle hit a contract high of 187.3 cents/lb. and ended up 1.45 cents at 185.475 cents/lb. Actively traded December settled 1.475 cents higher at 191.825 cents after reaching a life-of-contract high of 192 cents.
October feeder cattle rallied to a contract high of 264.675 cents/lb. and finished up 2.6 cents at 264.475 cents/lb.
Traders are looking ahead to the monthly USDA Cattle on Feed report at the end of next week.
Lean hog futures were mixed, guided by technical trading and underpinned by the spot contract’s discount to the CME lean hog index.
CME October lean hogs dipped 0.225 cent to 83.125 cents/lb., below the latest index of 86.94. The contract held in a narrow range above its 50-day moving average and below its 200-day average.
December hogs, the most active contract, held chart support at its 50- and 100-day moving average and settled unchanged at 75.1 cents/lb.
— Karl Plume reports on agriculture and ag commodities for Reuters from Chicago.
