U.S. livestock: December live cattle down off 7-1/2-year high

Hogs down on export market concerns

Reading Time: < 1 minute

Published: December 14, 2022

,

CME December 2022 live cattle with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages. (Barchart)

Chicago | Reuters — CME Group live cattle futures dropped on a round of profit taking after the front-month contract rose to its highest since June 2015 early in the session.

Concerns about a winter storm damaging herds in the U.S. Plains provided support to cattle futures overnight.

While supply concerns dominated cattle futures trading, the hog futures market was focused on demand and how rising COVID-19 cases from China could affect the export market.

CME February lean hogs dropped 1.175 cents to 83.4 cents/lb. (all figures US$). Nearby December hogs, which expire on Friday, eased 0.075 cent to 82.325 cents/lb.

Read Also

Detail from the front of the CBOT building in Chicago. (Vito Palmisano/iStock/Getty Images)

U.S. grains: Wheat futures rise on supply snags in top-exporter Russia

U.S. wheat futures closed higher on Thursday on concerns over the limited availability of supplies for export in Russia, analysts said.

CME benchmark February live cattle fell 0.65 cent to 155.7 cents/lb., while the spot December contract dipped 0.4 cent, to 154.5 cents per pound after peaking at 155.25 cents.

The top for the December contract was the highest on a continuous basis for front-month live cattle since June 11, 2015.

CME January feeder cattle lost 0.625 cent, to 183.6 cents/lb.

Boxed beef prices were mixed on Wednesday, with choice cuts falling $4.88, to $250.07 per hundredweight (cwt), while select cuts gained $1.23, to $226.49/cwt, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) said.

USDA reported the daily cow slaughter at 118,000 head, down from 127,000 a week ago and the smallest since the day after the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday.

— Mark Weinraub is a Reuters commodities correspondent in Chicago.

About the author

GFM Network News

GFM Network News

Glacier FarmMedia Feed

Glacier FarmMedia, a division of Glacier Media, is Canada's largest publisher of agricultural news in print and online.

explore

Stories from our other publications