GENERAL COMMENTS:
Both the live cattle and feeder cattle markets closed lower as traders seem hesitant to do much in the cattle complex ahead of seeing what the cash cattle market achieves. Meanwhile, the lean hog complex closed higher as traders were elated to see higher exports in today's WASDE report. Hog prices closed higher on the Daily Direct Afternoon Hog Report, up $0.09 with a weighted average price of $87.59 on 6,457 head. July corn is up 4 3/4 cents per bushel and July soybean meal is up $0.90. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 56.73 points.
LIVE CATTLE:
The live cattle complex didn't do too much throughout Wednesday's trade as the market seems to be sitting on its hands, waiting to see what the cash cattle market achieves this week. June live cattle closed $0.10 lower at $183.65, August live cattle closed $0.60 lower at $178.32 and October live cattle closed $0.67 lower at $181.05. Bids of $185 were offered throughout the day in Kansas, but mostly feedlots elected to let that offer sit idle. Asking prices in the South are firm at $187 to $188 but remain unestablished still in the North. Packer interest could improve on Thursday, but it wouldn't be surprising to see cattle wait to trade until Friday as prices are expected to be at least steady this week, if not a little higher depending on packers' needs. Wednesday's slaughter is estimated at 123,000 head -- 1,000 head less than a week ago and 4,000 head less than a year ago.
Wednesday's WASDE report was mostly favorable to the cattle and beef markets. Beef production for 2024 fell by 5 million pounds as the market is currently seeing slower chain speeds but that won't gravely affect production as heavier carcass weights will offset the market's slower throughput. Steer prices in the remaining three quarters of the year saw mostly higher price trends compared to last month's report. Steers in the second quarter of 2024 are expected to average $186 (up $2.00 from last month), steers in the third quarter are expected to average $183 (up $1.00 from last month), and the fourth quarter of 2024 is the only quarter that saw a price reduction from last month as steers are now expected to average $186 (down $1.00 from last month). Beef imports remained steady at 4,171 million pounds for 2024, and beef exports remained steady at 2,818 million pounds for 2024.
Boxed beef prices closed lower: choice down $0.61 ($317.60) and select down $1.69 ($298.93) with a movement of 124 loads (75.19 loads of choice, 35.74 loads of select, zero loads of trim and 13.01 loads of ground beef).
THURSDAY'S CATTLE CALL: Steady to $1.00 higher. Given that packers only got 64,000 head of cattle bought last week, there's a chance that prices could trade higher this week.
FEEDER CATTLE:
The feeder cattle complex grew tiresome waiting for the live cattle/cash cattle market to trade higher, and by Wednesday's end, the market closed fully lower. Today's technical downward ascend solely comes from a lack of trader interest as the market's fundamentals are prime with feeder cattle sales performing extremely well in the countryside and on early video auctions as well. August live cattle closed $0.07 lower at $257.57, September feeders closed $0.20 lower at $258.47 and October feeders closed $0.37 lower at $258.85. At Sioux Falls Regional Cattle Auction in Worthing, South Dakota compared to their last sale two weeks ago, steers weighing 800 to 950 pounds traded $9.00 to $12.00 higher, with instances of prices even higher than that on the 800 weight steers. Light heifers traded mostly stead, but heifers weighing 700 pounds sold $7.00 higher to sharply higher, heifers weighing 800 pounds traded $1.00 to $6.00 higher, and heifers weighing 850 to 900 pounds sold $2.00 higher. Feeder cattle supply over 600 pounds was 91%. The CME feeder cattle index 6/11/2024: not available at this time.
LEAN HOGS:
The lean hog complex was so ecstatic to see better export demand noted in this morning's WASDE report that traders seemed to forget about everything and simply elected to trade the market higher. July lean hogs closed $1.42 higher at $93.70, August lean hogs closed $0.85 higher at $89.95 and October lean hogs closed $0.37 higher at $77.05. The market also saw slightly better support from the cash hog market as once again cash prices traded higher and packers bought over 6,000 head this afternoon. Meanwhile, pork cutout values were disappointing as the carcass price fell $4.64 lower as the belly plummeted $19.02, and the rib closed $5.72 lower. Pork cutouts totaled 294.00 loads with 258.51 loads of pork cuts and 35.49 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: down $4.64, $99.01. Wednesday's slaughter is estimated at 481,000 head -- 1,000 head less than a week ago and 14,000 head more than a year ago. The CME lean hog index 6/10/2024: down $0.20, $91.32.
Wednesday's WASDE report shared mixed results for the hog and pork markets. 2024 pork production grew by 42 million pounds as current slaughter speeds are more aggressive than originally assumed and carcass weights are heavier as well. Quarterly hog prices saw a slight reduction from last month's estimates as second-quarter hog prices in 2024 are now expected to average $66 (down $2.00 from last month), third-quarter hog prices are expected to average $68 (down $3.00 from last month) and fourth quarter prices were unchanged at $56.00. 2024 pork imports grew by 10 million pounds, but 2024 pork exports grew by 100 million pounds.
THURSDAY'S HOG CALL: Lower. With how aggressive packers have been earlier in the week, it's likely that they will be less aggressive later this week given that they've already bought a considerable volume of hogs.
No comments:
Post a Comment