GENERAL COMMENTS:
After enduring strenuous pressure earlier in the week, the livestock contracts finally caught a break and were able to trade higher through Thursday's end. No more sizeable cash cattle sales were reported, but some clean up trade still could develop ahead of Friday's end. Hog prices closed lower on the Daily Direct Afternoon Hog Report, down $0.54 with a weighted average price of $86.77 on 1,435 head. December corn is up 3 1/2 cents per bushel and December soybean meal is down $0.90. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 32.13 points.
Thursday's export report shared that beef net sales of 8,300 metric tons (mt) for 2024 -- a marketing year low -- were down 46% from the previous week and 43% from the prior 4-week average. The three primary buyers were South Korea (2,500 mt), China (1,900 mt) and Japan (1,400 mt). Pork net sales of 26,500 mt for 2024 were down 55% from the previous week and 29% from the prior 4-week average. The three primary buyers were Mexico (9,000 mt), Japan (6,400 mt) and China (3,400 mt).
LIVE CATTLE:
Even though the afternoon boxed beef report printed lower prices yet again, traders found some technical support following the week's earlier decline and allowed the live cattle contracts to close slightly higher Thursday afternoon. August live cattle closed steady at $182.25, October live cattle closed $0.30 higher at $183.50 and December live cattle closed $0.25 higher at $185.05. The cash cattle market didn't see much action through Thursday's trade although bids of $310 to $312 were offered in Nebraska throughout the day. Even so, feedlots weren't overly concerned with selling more cattle and packers seem somewhat comfortable with the volumes in which they were able to commit earlier in the week. Some more clean up trade will likely develop ahead of the week's end, but it looks as though the week's prices are established. Throughout the week Southern live cattle have traded at mostly $188 which is $4.00 lower than last week's weighted average and Northern dressed cattle have traded at mostly $312 which is $2.00 lower than last week's weighted average.
Thursday's slaughter is estimated at 122,000 head -- incomparable to a week ago but 4,000 head less than a year ago.
Boxed beef prices closed lower: choice down $2.40 ($312.65) and select down $0.56 ($303.38) with a movement of 142 loads (97.72 loads of choice, 29.76 loads of select, 6.80 loads of trim and 8.03 loads of ground beef).
FRIDAY'S CATTLE CALL: Steady. Given that cattle have already traded in both regions, prices will likely remain steady with the week's trend at this point.
FEEDER CATTLE:
The feeder cattle complex rounded out Thursday's trade on a higher note which was quite the refreshing change compared to what the market had done earlier in the week. August feeders closed $1.80 higher at $256.15, September feeders closed $1.77 higher at $256.35 and October feeders closed $1.30 higher at $256.10. More than anything, Thursday's higher trade seemed to stem from the fact that the live cattle complex was trading higher which gave traders more confidence in their support of the feeder cattle market. Although traders shouldn't have lacked confidence when feeder cattle sales in the countryside continue to remain incredibly strong. The CME feeder cattle index 7/10/2024: not available at this time.
LEAN HOGS:
The lean hog complex was also able to close higher as trader found some technical support following Wednesday's steep decline. It didn't hurt matters either that the carcass price closed higher, mainly encouraged by the whopping $12.56 jump in the rib. Most of the other cuts closed higher too, but the rib's gain was outlandish compared to the rest of the cut's $1.00 to $2.00 increases. August lean hogs closed $2.00 higher at $86.67, October lean hogs closed $1.07 higher at $69.40 and December lean hogs closed $0.20 higher at $62.45. Pork cutouts totaled 329.06 loads with 296.58 loads of pork cuts and 32.48 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: up $1.81, $96.23. Thursday's slaughter is estimated at 475,000 head -- incomparable to a week ago but 7,000 head more than a year ago. The CME lean hog index 7/9/2024: up $0.24, $88.67.
FRIDAY'S HOG CALL: Lower. Given that packers were extremely aggressive in the cash market earlier this week likely means that they've done their buying for the week and won't pay much attention to Friday's cash market.
No comments:
Post a Comment