GENERAL COMMENTS:
By Friday's end, the cattle contracts cheered as the strong showing in the cash cattle market amid a weaker corn complex helped propel both the live cattle and feeder cattle contracts higher through closing, but the lean hog complex ran out of steam by Friday's end. Hog prices closed lower on the Daily Direct Afternoon Hog Report, down $2.95 with a weighted average price of $97.25 on 2,273 head. December corn is down 12 cents per bushel and December soybean meal is down $5.50. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 187.38 points.
From Friday to Friday, livestock futures scored the following changes: August live cattle down $0.18, October live cattle down $0.18; August feeder cattle down $2.15, September feeder cattle down $2.22; July lean hogs up $3.35, August lean hogs up $2.55; July corn up $0.06, September corn down $0.01.
LIVE CATTLE:
The live cattle complex rallied through Friday's market as traders noted and praised the work of feedlots this past week in the cash cattle market. With packers having ample supplies committed to them through pre-committed purchases and, with packers having dialed back processing speeds, feedlots had to fight to keep prices mostly steady. Throughout the week, Northern dressed cattle traded for mostly $290, which is steady with last week's weighted average and Southern live cattle traded for mostly $178, which is steady to $1.00 lower than last week's weighted average. August live cattle closed $2.42 higher at $177.00, October live cattle closed $1.95 higher at $179.37 and December live cattle closed $1.55 higher at $183.17. Friday's slaughter is estimated at 125,000 head, 2,000 head more than a week ago and 1,000 headless than a year ago. Saturday's slaughter is projected to be around 78,000 head. This week's slaughter is estimated at 539,000 head, 108,000 head less than a week ago and 49,000 head less than a year ago.
Beef net sales of 17,000 mt for 2023 were up 41% from the previous week and 33% from the prior four-week average. The three largest buyers were Japan (5,100 mt), South Korea (3,700 mt) and Taiwan (2,200 mt).
Boxed beef prices closed lower: choice down $2.97 ($316.90) and select down $4.34 ($285.63) with a movement of 134 loads (77.76 loads of choice, 20.40 loads of select, 18.12 loads of trim and 17.59 loads of ground beef). Throughout the week choice cuts averaged $321.97 (down $7.22 from last week) and select cuts averaged $290.65 (down $6.47 from last week) and the week's total movement of cuts, grinds and trim totaled 432 loads.
MONDAY'S CATTLE CALL: Steady to $1.00 higher. It will be crucial to see how many cattle packers got bought this past week. If they weren't able to get many bought, they'll need to stay active in next week's cash market, which could push prices slightly higher.
FEEDER CATTLE:
The feeder cattle complex ran higher through Friday's end as traders saw the combination of weaker corn prices amid a relatively strong cash cattle market as a positive sign for its market. It will help that next week regular feeder cattle sales will resume their normal schedule and so long as corn prices don't spike, demand should be strong after the long holiday week. August feeders closed $3.15 higher at $245.42, September feeders closed $3.27 higher at $248.60 and October feeders closed $3.10 higher at $250.22. The CME Feeder Cattle Index for June 6: up $0.95, $231.21.
LEAN HOGS:
The lean hog contracts ran out of steam by the time Friday rolled around as, not only were traders exhausted from running the contracts higher earlier in the week, but it also didn't help that the cash hog market petered out. It was positive, however, to see pork cutout values close higher ahead of the weekend, but then again, the afternoon carcass price was skewed by a $13.92 jump in the belly. July lean hogs closed $1.05 lower at $99.00, August lean hogs closed $1.97 lower at $95.15 and October lean hogs closed $0.32 lower at $81.37. Pork cutouts totaled 223.13 loads with 206.11 loads of pork cuts and 17.02 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: up $2.94, $107.94. Friday's slaughter is estimated at 471,000 head, 24,000 head more than a week ago and 12,000 head more than a year ago. Saturday's slaughter is projected to be around 154,000 head. Thursday's hog slaughter was revised to 457,000 head. The CME Lean Hog Index for July 5: up $1.39, $96.07.
Pork net sales of 26,000 mt for 2023 were down 3% from the previous week and from the prior four-week average. The three largest buyers were Mexico (15,100 mt), Canada (4,600 mt) and Japan (1,700 mt).
MONDAY'S HOG CALL: Steady. Given that prices saw a significant decrease on Friday, prices will likely hold steady come Monday as packers won't likely get aggressive procuring hogs until Tuesday or Wednesday of next week.
No comments:
Post a Comment