GENERAL COMMENTS:
It was a great day for the lean hog market as the pork cutout value closed higher alongside a strong technical market throughout the futures complex. Meanwhile, the cattle market closed mixed with live cattle contracts seeing some support, but the fundamental side of the market not seeing any advancement. Hog prices closed lower on the National Direct Afternoon Hog Report, down $0.40 with weighted average of $86.05 on 7,205. May corn is up 4 1/2 cents per bushel and May soybean meal is down $2.00. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 193.62 points and NASDAQ is up 326.08 points.
LIVE CATTLE:
Even though the live cattle contracts were able to close modestly higher, there is still a lot of frustration circling the live cattle/cash cattle market with cash cattle prices continuing to be held hostage as prices haven't moved in the last five weeks. April live cattle closed $0.25 lower at $118.52, June live cattle closed $0.70 higher at $119.67 and August live cattle closed $0.72 higher at $118.65. The cash cattle market saw a little more clean-up trade develop at steady prices both in the North and in the South. Northern cattle continue to trade at $178 to $180 dressed, and Southern live cattle continue to sell at $113 to $114. There's a good chance that more trade could develop on Friday as clean-up, but the week's business is mostly done with. Thursday's slaughter is estimated at 118,000 head, 3,000 head less than a week ago and 1,000 head less than a year ago.
Thursday's actual slaughter data shared great news for carcass weights again. For the week ending Feb. 27, steers averaged 899 pounds (down 10 pounds from the previous week) and heifers averaged 834 pounds (down 7 pounds from the previous report).
Beef net sales of 20,900 mt were report for 2021 were down 8% from the previous week but up 17% from the prior four-week average. The three primary increases were for South Korea (6,600 mt), Japan (5,900 mt) and Mexico (2,100 mt).
Boxed beef prices closed mixed: choice down $0.62 ($226.67) and select up $0.25 ($220.07) with a movement of 133 loads (83.14 loads of choice, 13.52 loads of select, 23.95 loads of trim and 12.77 loads of ground beef).
FRIDAY'S CASH CATTLE CALL: Steady. Clean-up trade will most likely develop through Friday's hours at steady levels with the week's business.
FEEDER CATTLE:
Even though the live cattle contracts closed slightly higher, the pressure from the rise in the corn market and the disappointment in the week's cash cattle trade sent the feeder cattle contracts lower once again. March feeders closed $0.95 lower at $135.25, April feeders closed $0.45 lower at $141.27 and May feeders closed $0.42 lower at $146.40. The demand throughout the countryside remains mixed as feeders are met with leery buyers. At South Central Regional Stockyards in Vienna, Missouri, compared to last week, feeder steers under 550 pounds sold $3.00 to $5.00 higher, steers weighing 550 to 750 pounds sold steady to $2.00 higher and those weighing over 750 pounds sold $1.00 to $2.00 lower. Feeder heifers under 500 pounds sold steady to $3.00 higher, heifers weighing 500 to 600 pounds sold $3.00 to $5.00 lower and those over 600 pounds sold unevenly steady. The CME Feeder Cattle Index for March 10: down $0.14, $133.85.
LEAN HOGS:
The lean hog contracts ran boldly into Thursday's trade, and it treated the complex well! April lean hogs closed $2.72 higher at $91.50, June lean hogs closed $1.72 higher at $99.12 and July lean hogs closed $1.72 higher at $99.45. There were two big things that the market was watching for in the hog market on Thursday -- the day's export data and the day's estimated slaughter) -- and both came back mostly supportive. It would have been nice to see a greater shipment of pork exported, but thankfully China was still at the market's call, waiting to buy. And given that earlier in the week slaughter data had been revised lower, it was important to see if Thursday's slaughter was going to be exponentially lower (which it wasn't) and to see if Wednesday's slaughter was revised (which it wasn't). Pork cutouts totaled 341.10 loads with 302.69 loads of pork cuts and 38.40 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: up $2.02, $99.69. Thursday's slaughter is estimated at 496,000 head, 1,000 head more than a week ago and year ago. The CME Lean Hog Index for March 9: up $0.68, $86.76.
Thursday's actual slaughter data shared only a slight uptick in hog weights for the week ending Feb. 27. Live hogs averaged 291 pounds (up 1 pound) and dressed hog weights averaged 217 pounds, which was steady with the previous week.
Pork net sales of 32,400 mt were report for 2021 were down 46% from the previous week and down 17% from the prior four-week average. The three primary increases were for China (10,700 mt), Mexico (6,900 mt) and Japan (3,100 mt).
FRIDAY'S CASH HOG CALL: Lower. Seeing that packers weren't quite as aggressive Thursday afternoon as they have been in week's past, Friday's market could be steady if not somewhat lower heading into the weekend.
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