GENERAL COMMENTS:
The livestock complex is quiet heading into Friday's noon hour as traders eye the three-day weekend ahead of us and aren't paying the livestock contracts much attention. Some more cash cattle trade will likely happen Friday afternoon, as packers need to replenish their inventories. March corn is down 1/4 cent per bushel and March soybean meal is up $14.00. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 181.73 points.
LIVE CATTLE:
The positive nature of the live cattle complex hasn't changed even though the futures market isn't necessarily representing the momentum that the market possessed earlier in the week. Traders are chomping at the bit for some worthwhile news to make trade decisions, and even more than that, they're looking forward to the three-day weekend that lays ahead of us. The South has traded a handful of cattle Friday morning for $157, which is fully steady with Thursday's business, but still $1.00 higher than last week. Some trade was reported in the North yesterday for $254 to $255, which is $5.00 to $6.00 higher than last week's weighted average. More trade is likely to develop ahead of the day's end as packers bought limited supplies last week and will need more inventory in the upcoming weeks if they're going to run semi-normal processing speeds. February live cattle are down $0.52 at $158.35, April live cattle are down $0.42 at $162.02 and June live cattle are down $0.25 at $157.90.
Beef net sales of 2,300 mt were reported for Japan (1,800 mt), South Korea (1,700 mt) and Mexico (200 mt).
Boxed beef prices are higher: choice up $3.19 ($282.05) and select up $1.63 ($252.33) with a movement of 44 loads (34.55 loads of choice, 4.57 loads of select, zero loads of trim and 4.72 loads of ground beef).
FEEDER CATTLE:
The feeder cattle complex is continuing to chop sideways as the market longs to see the live cattle market trade higher again before it will advance its own market. The corn complex isn't posing much of a threat at midday as its market is trading mostly steady, but more than anything the market seems to watching time pass by before the last bell of the day rings and we again waltz into a three day weekend. Come next week the feeder cattle market could see enough support through strong sales in the countryside as most sale barns will be back to their normal schedule. And with the advancement that's been made in the cash cattle market and the strong demand that boxed beef prices are seeing -- cattle buyers could be aggressive early next week as they see the market's fundamentals strengthening. January feeders are down $0.57 at $183.22, March feeders are down $0.90 at $185.87 and April feeders are down $0.70 t $189.45.
LEAN HOGS:
Traders are supporting the lean hog complex more than any other livestock market right now, but even so, the nearby contracts aren't seeing the support that the deferred months are. February lean hogs down $0.85 at $87.85, April lean hogs are down $0.27 at $95.42 and June lean hogs are up $0.57 at $109.22. It's unlikely that the market sees much interest arise ahead of closing as neither the cash market nor pork cutouts have seen much interest at all this week. Hopefully, after the New Year holiday, the market begins to see better fundamental demand.
The projected lean hog index for Dec. 29 is down $0.55 at $80.19, and the actual index for Dec. 28 is up $0.05 at $80.74. Hog prices are lower on the Daily Direct Morning Hog Report, down $0.76 with a weighted average of $75.11, ranging from $75.00 to $78.00 on 4,500 head and a five-day rolling average of $76.91. Pork cutouts total 182.04 loads with 172.46 loads of pork cuts and 9.58 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: up $2.60, $90.48.
Pork net sales of 15,100 mt for 2022 were primarily for Mexico (9,100 mt), Canada (1,600 mt) and China (1,600 mt).
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