Cattle contracts have kept their momentum rolling into the noon hour, but the lean hog market is starting to weaken. Given the regression in the cash hog market and the announcement of more plants shutting down -- this doesn't come as a surprise. May corn is up 2 1/4 cents per bushel and May soybean meal is down $0.20. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 193.36 points and NASDAQ is up 70.42 points.
LIVE CATTLE
It's encouraging to see the heavily traded June live cattle contract continue to pull away from the recent low established April 6 at $80.30. The rest of the live cattle sector is having an impressive day as well rallying anywhere from $0.62 to $2.22 higher. April live cattle are up $0.77 at $95.50, June live cattle are up $2.20 at $87.00 and August live cattle are up $1.45 at $90.97. Cash cattle trade has yet to get under way this week and it's looking like Friday may take all the attention. Packers haven't inquired much about cattle and there's only one bid on the table at $155 for dressed fats in Nebraska. Asking prices are around $108 in the South, and $168-plus in the North. For Friday's Fed Cattle Exchange there are 5,778 head of cattle to sell.
Thursday's export report shared that beef net sales of 20,200 mt were reported for the 2020 calendar year, which was up 28% from the previous week and up 16% from the prior four-week average. The three primary increases were from Japan (9,500 mt including decreases of 600 mt), South Korea (5,200 mt including decreases of 600 mt) and Hong Kong (3,200 mt including decreases of 100 mt).
Boxed beef prices are higher: choice up $4.77 ($235.30) and select up $3.87 ($226.09) with a movement of 63 loads (36.06 loads of choice, 11.83 loads of select, 3.38 loads of trim and 11.36 loads of ground beef).
FEEDER CATTLE
Feeder cattle contracts haven't wanted to be left in the dust and are trading steadily higher into the noon hour. April feeders are up $2.50 at $118.30, May feeders are up $2.67 at $118.45 and August feeders are up $1.37 at $128.10. It can grow in the live cattle market, and more importantly in the cash cattle market, it would really help both sale barns and help stabilize the feeder cattle board.
LEAN HOGS
The lean hog market has lessened its pace heading into the noon hour, which has most contracts trading lower. June lean hogs are down $0.35 at $44.30, July lean hogs are up $0.05 at $51.77 and August lean hogs are up $0.10 at $56.22. The closure of the Smithfield plant in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, has had a domino effect within the industry as Smithfield announced they would be closing two other plants -- one in Wisconsin and one in Missouri. As COVID-19 continues to pressure packing plants it's inevitable that the market is going to continue to weaken on the cash market.
Thursday's export report shared that pork net sales of 45,700 mt were reported for the 2020 calendar year, which were down 18% from the previous week but up 9% from the prior four-week average. The three primary increases were from China (16,400 mt), Mexico (13,000 mt) and South Korea (4,500 mt).
The projected two-day lean hog index for 4/14/2020 is down $0.96 at $46.53, and the actual index for 4/13/2020 is down $0.53 at $47.49. Hog prices are lower on the National Direct Morning Hog Report, down $0.83 with a weighted average of $33.20, ranging from $32.00 to $36.00 on 4,398 head with a five-day rolling average of $34.46. Pork cutouts total 213.53 loads with 182.84 loads of pork cuts and 30.70 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: up $3.50, $55.60.
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