The livestock complex grew skeptical of trading too aggressively early in the week, and ultimately, all three of the markets closed lower Monday afternoon. New showlists appear to be lower in all three major feeding states for the cash cattle market. May corn is up 1/4 cent per bushel and May soybean meal is down $2.70. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 597.97 points.
LIVE CATTLE:Although the live cattle complex had all the support in the world that it could ever hope for last week, the contracts rounded out the day lower as traders remain skeptical of overly supporting the contracts ahead of seeing what the week's cash cattle trade is going to amount to. April live cattle closed $1.05 lower at $205.90, June live cattle closed $0.62 lower at $202.15 and August live cattle closed $0.30 lower at $199.05. After reaching new contract highs last week, traders could likely keep their leery attitude throughout the remainder of the week as they're going to need to see a plethora of support to justify trading the contracts any higher. Monday's slaughter is estimated at 119,000 head -- 5,000 head more than a week ago and 2,000 head more than a year ago. New showlists appear to be lower in all three major feeding states.
Last week, Southern live cattle traded at mostly $210, which is $7.00 higher than the previous week's weighted average, and Northern dressed cattle traded at mostly $335, which is $10.00 higher than the previous week's weighted average. Depending on where the week's weighted averages land, it's likely that these prices mark new all-time highs in both of the regions. Last week's negotiated cash cattle trade totaled 94,956 head. Of that, 88% (83,685 head) were committed to the market's nearby delivery, while the remaining 12% (11,271 head) were committed to the deferred delivery option.
Boxed beef prices closed higher choice up $1.65 ($327.10) and select up $3.96 ($313.58) with a movement of 79 loads (45.55 loads of choice, 10.76 loads of select, 9.64 loads of trim and 12.67 loads of ground beef).
TUESDAY'S CATTLE CALL: Steady. Given that packers were able to buy a lot of cattle last week and that they committed most of them to the nearby delivery option, it's likely that this week's cash market could trade steady.
FEEDER CATTLE:It was a mixed day for the feeder cattle complex as the market saw some of its nearby contracts maintain a slightly higher edge compared to the deferred contracts that closed fully lower. But overall, the futures complex seemed to acquire the same skeptical attitude that the live cattle complex had throughout the day. April feeders closed $0.27 higher at $285.25, May feeders closed $0.25 lower at $284.85 and August feeders closed $0.32 lower at $288.50. And given the fact that most of the nearby contracts scored new contract highs last week, it's likely that traders remain leery of overly supporting the contracts until it's known what this week's fed cash cattle market is going to do. At Joplin Regional Stockyards in Carthage, Missouri, compared to last week, feeder steers were selling anywhere from $4.00 lower to $7.00 higher, while feeder heifers were trading steady to $10.00 higher. Feeder cattle supply over 600 pounds was 57%. The CME feeder cattle index 3/21/2025: down $0.79, $286.99.
LEAN HOGS:The lean hog complex rounded out the day lower as traders remained skeptical of overly supporting the lean hog complex at this point. The sideways trend seems to be the comfortable option for the contracts as they aren't confident in what this week's demand picture is going to look like. It was surprising, however, to see that the cash hog market traded 7,143 head today and that prices were over $1.00 higher. April lean hogs closed $0.42 lower at $85.70, June lean hogs closed $1.67 lower at $95.80 and July lean hogs closed $1.95 lower at $96.77. Hog prices closed higher on the Daily Direct Afternoon Hog Report, up $1.89 with a weighted average price of $90.29 on 7,143 head. Pork cutouts totaled 266.00 loads, with 231.66 loads of pork cuts and 34.34 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: up $0.51, $97.37. Monday's slaughter is estimated at 488,000 head -- 1,000 head more than a week ago and 5,000 head more than a year ago. The CME lean hog index 3/20/2025: down $0.32, $88.88.
TUESDAY'S HOG CALL: Steady/somewhat higher. Given that packers were abnormally aggressive in today's cash market, it likely means that they're short bought and still need some supply.
No comments:
Post a Comment