GENERAL COMMENTS
It was a typical post-holiday trading day for the livestock complex as the markets saw little interest from traders and were left to fend for themselves. Hog prices averaged $82.95 on the Daily Direct Afternoon Hog Report, with a total of 3,375 head trading. December corn is up 4 3/4 cents per bushel and January soybean meal is down $1.10. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 152.97 points.
From Friday to Friday, livestock futures scored the following changes: December live cattle steady, February live cattle down $0.72; January feeder cattle down $2.47, March feeder cattle down $1.57; December lean hogs down $0.45, February lean hogs down $1.05; December corn steady, March corn up $0.01.
LIVE CATTLE:
It was a slow day for the live cattle market as the contracts didn't see much interest nor support from traders and as the cash cattle market traded earlier in the week. December live cattle closed $0.27 lower at $153.07, February live cattle closed $0.30 lower at $155.12 and April live cattle closed $0.15 lower at $158.97. Throughout the week, Northern cattle traded for $245 dressed, which is $3.00 higher than last week's weighted average. Southern live cattle traded for $154 to $155, which is roughly $4.00 higher than last week's weighted average. On Monday, it will be important to see how many cattle traded this week as a measure to gauge how active packers will be in next week's cash market.
Thursday's slaughter is estimated at 2,000 head. Friday's slaughter is estimated at 112,000 head, 13,000 head less than a week ago and 4,000 head less than a year ago. Saturday's slaughter is projected to be around 81,000 head.
Beef net sales of 12,900 mt for 2022 were primarily for South Korea (4,600 mt), China (4,100 mt) and Japan (1,700 mt).
Boxed beef prices closed mixed: choice down $0.73 ($251.83) and select up $1.04 ($234.37) with a movement of 61 loads (36.87 loads of choice, 11.57 loads of select, 7.12 loads of trim and 5.43 loads of ground beef). The choice/select spread sits at $17.46.
MONDAY'S CATTLE CALL: Higher. With front-end supplies of market-ready cattle especially thin, packers will again likely have to support next week's market.
FEEDER CATTLE:
Not only did the feeder cattle contracts have to endure the same painstakingly slow day as the rest of the livestock contracts did, but it also had to witness and react to the slight rally that the corn complex managed to push throughout Friday's market. Nevertheless, come Monday the feeder cattle complex will be eyeing the corn market again to see if it's upward trajectory holds, or if Friday's higher trend was just a post-holiday thrill. January feeders closed $0.95 lower at $178.30, March feeders closed $0.80 lower at $181.55 and April feeders closed $0.92 lower at $185.12. The CME Feeder Cattle Index for Nov. 24: down $0.66, $173.63.
LEAN HOGS:
The lean hog complex closed with the same doggish tone that it possessed throughout the day as most market participants enjoyed a long weekend and let the market take care of itself through Friday's hours. December lean hogs closed $0.17 lower at $83.77, February lean hogs closed $0.30 lower at $88.50 and April lean hogs closed $0.57 lower at $94.02. Come Monday, the market will again be looking for support hopefully through stronger pork demand as some Christmas buying could be taking place in the retail sector. Pork cutouts totaled 208.88 loads with 187.09 loads of pork cuts and 21.78 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: down $1.73, $87.63. Thursday's slaughter is estimated at 2,000 head. Friday's slaughter is estimated at 465,000 head, 16,000 head less than a week ago and 7,000 head more than a year ago. Saturday's slaughter is projected to be around 328,000 head. The CME Lean Hog Index for Nov. 22: down $0.37, $86.17.
Pork net sales of 45,800 mt for 2022 were primarily for Mexico (18,200 mt), Japan (10,200 mt) and Canada (4,100 mt).
MONDAY'S HOG CALL: Steady. Thankfully export demand has been strong for the hog complex but if packers rein in processing speeds their need to chase the cash market will wane, especially with cold storage supplies as ample as they are.
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