Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange hog futures rose to a nine-month high as a recent slowdown in the pace of slaughter limited the amount of retail supplies.
Cattle futures were weaker on an expected seasonal slowdown and a round of profit-taking, traders said.
CME July hogs jumped three cents to 95.85 cents per pound while August hogs ended up 2.525 cents at 93.2 cents a pound. On a continuous basis, the front-month contract hit its highest since Sept. 21, 2022.
USDA priced the pork carcass cutout at $94.62 per cwt on Tuesday afternoon, up from $92.33 on Friday.
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As the harvest in southern Alberta presses on, a broker said that is one of the factors pulling feed prices lower in the region. Darcy Haley, vice-president of Ag Value Brokers in Lethbridge, added that lower cattle numbers in feedlots, plentiful amounts of grass for cattle to graze and a lacklustre export market also weighed on feed prices.
CME’s benchmark August live cattle contract settled down 2.025 cents at 169.7 cents per pound.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture priced choice cuts of beef at $336.91 per hundredweight (cwt) on Tuesday afternoon, down $3.23 from the nearly two-year high hit on Friday. Select cuts were $2.83 lower at $307.93 per cwt.
Analysts expect that beef prices will ease as retailers finish stocking meat cases ahead of the Fourth of July holiday, the last big grilling holiday until Labour Day in September.
Profit margins for meat packers rose on Tuesday to $182.55 per head of cattle, up from $166.65 on Friday and $147.80 a week ago, according to livestock marketing advisory service HedgersEdge.
CME feeder cattle futures also were weaker, with the August contract ending down 2.775 cents at 232.15 cents per pound.
— Mark Weinraub is a Reuters commodities correspondent in Chicago
