GENERAL COMMENTS:
The livestock complex is trading mostly higher into Thursday's noon hour as traders anxiously await Thursday afternoon's Quarterly Hogs and Pigs report and as they wait to see what all develops in the cash cattle market. At this point, feedlots have yet to let any more cattle trade as they seem to be holding out for better prices. December corn is down 5 cents per bushel and December soybean meal is up $1.00. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 278.05 points.
LIVE CATTLE:
Early in the day, the live cattle complex was trading lower, but as the noon hour nears traders are starting to believe that this week's cash cattle market may be thin and that feedlots could potentially roll over their showlists to next week where they stand a better chance at getting more money for their cattle. Packers are offering bids in both regions ($180 to $182 in the North, and $179 in the South) but, at this point, feedlot managers don't seem interested in those offers and continue to pass. It's also encouraging to see boxed beef prices higher at midday as well. Last Friday's Cold Storage report shared that total pounds of beef in freezers was down 6% compared to a month ago and down 20% compared to a year ago, which should keep beef prices elevated so long as consumer demand remains relentless. August live cattle are down $0.30 at $173.57, October live cattle are up $0.02 at $177.05 and December live cattle are up $0.15 at $181.02.
Beef net sales of 12,000 mt for 2023 were down 9% from the previous week and 16% from the prior four-week average. The three largest buyers were China (2,500 mt), Japan (2,500 mt) and Canada (1,400 mt).
Boxed beef prices are higher: choice up $0.92 ($328.82) and select up $1.71 ($298.39) with a movement of 53 loads (29.95 loads of choice, 12.78 loads of select, zero loads of trim and 10.58 loads of ground beef).
FEEDER CATTLE:
With the nearby corn contracts trading $0.05 to $0.07 lower, the feeder cattle complex continues to trade higher into Thursday's noon hour. The live cattle contracts aren't lending much support as their contracts are trading mixed, but the fact that only a few pens of fat cattle have sold is promising for the cash cattle market which always helps bolster the moral of feeders. August feeders are up $0.80 at $241.05, September feeders are up $0.70 at $244.42 and October feeders are up $0.75 at $246.72.
LEAN HOGS:
The lean hog complex is trading higher as the market anticipates that Thursday afternoon's Quarterly Hogs and Pigs report will disclose a smaller breeding herd which in time will mean that pork prices should increase. If the report does disclose a smaller breeding herd, the ramifications of fewer sows in the marketplace won't likely affect prices until later this year, but that's also when Prop 12 is supposed to go into effect so pork prices could be in for a wild ride later this year. July lean hogs are up $0.95 at $95.22, August lean hogs are up $1.55 at $92.57 and October lean hogs are up $0.57 at $79.95.
The projected lean hog index for June 28 is up $0.46 at $93.42 and the actual index for June 27 is up $0.44 at $92.96. Hog prices are lower on the Daily Direct Afternoon Hog Report, down $6.61 with a weighted average price of $86.89, ranging from $85.00 to $90.00 on 678 head and a five-day rolling average of $91.41. Pork cutouts total 160.40 loads with 136.97 loads of pork cuts and 23.43 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: up $4.72, $103.80.
Pork net sales of 26,700 mt for 2023 were down 7% from the previous week but up 3% from the prior four-week average. The three primary buyers were Mexico (15,100 mt), South Korea (4,100 mt) and Japan (2,600 mt).
No comments:
Post a Comment