GENERAL COMMENTS:
With April feeder cattle futures set to expire Thursday and the April live cattle contract expiring Friday afternoon, the cattle complex looks ahead to see what's in store. Largely, the cattle contracts are going to be monitoring corn prices until some essence of normalcy is regained. Meanwhile, lean hog futures had an "OK" day as the market was pressured by technical resistance but still managed to hold its own from a fundamental perspective. Hog prices closed lower on the National Direct Afternoon Hog report, down $0.42 with a weighted average of $111.10 on 4,896 head. July corn is up 4 1/4 cents per bushel and July soybean meal is up $1.20. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 239.98 points and NASDAQ is up 31.52 points.
LIVE CATTLE:
Live cattle futures rounded out Thursday trade mostly higher and had successful wins throughout the day with a strong slaughter pace and higher boxed beef prices. But the thorn that just won't leave the market's side is sorry cash cattle prices. June live cattle closed $0.60 higher at $116.05, August live cattle closed $0.92 higher at $117.40 and October live cattle closed $0.50 higher at $121.55. With the April contract set to expire Friday, the market will now be monitoring the June and to some degree August contract for the spot market's pace. There's wasn't much cash trade that developed throughout the countryside, other than just a little bit of clean-up in Iowa, Nebraska and Kansas all for steady money with Wednesday. Thursday's slaughter is estimated at 119,000 head -- 1,000 head more than a week ago.
Beef net sales of 23,600 metric tons (mt) reported for 2021 were down 4% from the previous week, but up 22% from the prior four-week average. The three largest buyers were South Korea (11,700 mt), Japan (4,900 mt) and Mexico (2,000 mt).
Actual slaughter data for the week ended 4/17/2021 showed steer carcass weights decreased slightly but heifer weights jumped. Steers dropped two pounds from the previous week to average 989 pounds, but heifers jumped eight pounds to now average 837 pounds.
Boxed beef prices closed higher: choice up $1.26 ($293.76) and select up $0.79 ($279.79) with a movement of 125 loads (92.81 loads of choice, 12.31 loads of select, 6.88 loads of trim and 13.04 loads of ground beef).
FRIDAY'S CASH CATTLE CALL: Steady. It's looking like the bulk of this week's trade is essentially done and if any more clean-up trade does develop it will be for steady prices.
FEEDER CATTLE:
Feeder cattle futures played a tough defense at the end of the game as the corn market started to reignite its rally in some of the nearby contracts. Seeing that the feeder cattle contracts have absolutely no nearby resistance pressure looming overhead, their modest rally continued even though the corn market started to regain traction. May feeders closed $0.87 higher at $135.85, August feeders closed $0.97 higher at $149.87 and September feeders closed $0.72 higher at $151.62. Corn's rally in recent weeks certainly has depressed cash feeder cattle sales in the countryside, but with a number of different states projected to get moisture in the next ten days and warmer weather, we could see the jump start that the grass needs in order to make good pasture. At Hub City Livestock Auction in Aberdeen, South Dakota, compared to last week, the market's best test on steers was on those weighing 650 to 900 pounds which traded steady with instances of $2.00 higher. Steers weighing 750 to 800 pounds, 850 to 900 pounds and 901 to 950 pounds all sold $3.00 to $5.00 lower. Heifers weighing 600 to 800 pounds all sold $3.00 to $5.00 lower. The CME Feeder Cattle Index for 4/28/2021 was unavailable.
LEAN HOGS:
Lean hog futures couldn't celebrate any wins from a technical aspect as the market was stern about keeping the contracts well below $110. But the fundamental side of the market went unharmed by the technical pressure. Biggest of all, Thursday's slaughter was steady with week-ago levels and pork cutout values were only down slightly. June lean hogs closed $2.40 lower at $106.72, July lean hogs closed $1.70 lower at $106.25 and August lean hogs closed $1.25 lower at $102.67. Pork cutouts totaled 268.00 loads with 230.49 loads of pork cuts and 37.51 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: down $0.66, $107.55. Thursday's slaughter is estimated at 481,000 head -- steady with a week ago. The CME Lean Hog Index for 4/27/2021 was down $0.38, $107.01.
Pork net sales of 35,600 mt reported for 2021 were down noticeably from the previous week, but up 59% from the prior four-week average. The three largest buyers were Mexico (16,700 mt), Japan (6,800 mt) and South Korea (5,000 mt).
Actual slaughter data released Thursday showed both live and dressed hog carcass weights fell lower for the week ended 4/17/2021. Live weights dropped one pound from the previous week to average 291 pounds, and dressed carcasses fell by one pound to average 217 pounds.
FRIDAY'S CASH HOG CALL: Steady to somewhat lower. With a big jump in prices earlier in the week, the market will most likely see steady to somewhat lower trade as packers look to the weekend.
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