GENERAL COMMENTS:
Wednesday boosted the moral throughout the cattle sector after following two days of mostly lower trade. The lean hog complex was still able to rally nearby contracts but fought some hesitation in deferred contracts. Hog prices are higher on the National Direct Afternoon Hog Report, up $1.00 with a weighted average of $64.35 on 9,463 head. December lean hogs are up $0.25 at $64.35, December corn is down 3/4 cent per bushel and December soybean meal is up $3.60. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 525.05 points and NASDAQ is down 330.66 points.
LIVE CATTLE:
Wednesday's support was a much-needed change of direction for the cattle contracts. Leading into the later part of the week, cash cattle sellers are wondering how much support they'd get for higher prices if the board traded lower throughout the week. October live cattle closed $0.67 higher at $107.15, December live cattle closed $1.02 higher at $111.20 and February live cattle closed $0.60 higher at $114.80. Feedlots are sticking to their guns and holding tough, waiting for the later part of the week, hoping to get another $1.00 or $2.00 out of packers. The countryside was quiet, extremely quiet, as packers' bids were few and far in between and feedlots aren't antsy to get cattle moved. Wednesday's slaughter is estimated at 120,000 head, steady with a week ago and 2,000 head more than a year ago.
Boxed beef prices closed higher: choice up $0.43 ($215.87) and select up $1.30 ($207.60) with a movement of 169 loads (92.18 loads of choice, 30.38 loads of select, 11.38 loads of trim and 35.42 loads of ground beef).
THURSDAY'S CASH CATTLE CALL: Steady to $1.00 higher. With feedlots holding out until the later part of the week, packers will have to get aggressive in their purchasing if they want to buy any cattle this week.
FEEDER CATTLE:
After the noon hour passed, the feeder cattle complex was able to absorb some of the support that was building in the live cattle arena. October feeders closed $0.90 higher at $141.52, November feeders closed $0.47 higher at $141.65 and January feeders closed $0.50 higher at $139.95. The countryside sits in a transitioning period as some sale barns and auction yards are seeing calves coming to town a couple weeks early, while other sales are still mostly quiet waiting for the month of October to arrive before unleashing the hectic nature of the fall run. The CME feeder cattle index 9/22/2020: down $0.17, $142.28.
LEAN HOGS:
The lean hog market closed mostly higher, other than some 2021 contracts that fought mild pressure through Wednesday's close. October lean hogs closed $1.17 higher at $69.50, December lean hogs closed $0.25 higher at $64.35 and February lean hogs closed steady at $69.07. Again, the cash market moved $1.00 higher as packers are tirelessly buying hogs and wanting to be able to capitalize on export demand in the near future. Thursday's export demand will be highly sought after and will continue to be in the weeks to come. Pork cutouts totaled 290.66 loads with 255.01 loads of pork cuts and 35.65 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: up $0.31, $88.97. Wednesday's slaughter is estimated at 487,000 head, 2,000 head more than a week ago and 11,000 head more than a year ago. The CME lean hog index 9/21/2020: up $0.88, $72.17.
THURSDAY'S CASH HOG CALL: Steady to higher. At some point packers are going to step back and work through the hogs they have, but, as of right now, they show no signs of weakening their bids in the short term.
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