GENERAL COMMENTS:
It's been a lackadaisical, uneventful day for the cattle contracts as both the live cattle and feeder cattle markets drift lower. Meanwhile, the lean hog contracts are trending higher as the market has finally found technical support as is trading stronger in the cash market too. July corn is down 1 1/4 cents per bushel and July soybean meal is up $3.50. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 1,011.82 points.
LIVE CATTLE:
The live cattle contracts are opting to trade with the same tone as the feeder cattle market, which is lower. As the market goes back and forth between support and resistance levels, it's not surprising to see trade drift lower as the cash market saw steady trade this past week. June live cattle are down $0.67 at $134.12, August live cattle are down $1.00 at $136.07 and October live cattle are down $1.12 at $143.40. The cash cattle market hasn't seen any renewed interest thus far Thursday, and it's looking like the bulk of this week's trade is done with. Throughout the week, Southern live cattle have traded mostly at $140 and Northern dressed cattle are $232, both of which are steady with last week's business. Asking prices for cattle left on showlists are around $142 in the South, and $234 in the North.
Beef net sales of 14,600 mt for 2022 were up 28% from the previous week and 1% from the prior four-week average. The three largest buyers were Japan (4,100 mt), South Korea (3,200 mt) and Taiwan (1,800 mt).
Boxed beef prices are lower: choice down $2.91 ($256.83) and select down $1.78 ($245.90) with a movement of 114 loads (72.70 loads of choice, 17.54 loads of select, 7.10 loads of trim and 17.08 loads of ground beef).
FEEDER CATTLE:
With the corn market falling another $0.02 to $0.03, you'd usually bet on the feeder cattle contracts trading higher, but that's not been the case in Thursday's market. After trading substantially higher earlier in the week the feeder cattle contracts have seemed to exhaust their rally and for the time being are trading lower. May feeders are down $1.90 at $160.35, August feeders are down $1.72 at $174.42 and September feeders are down $1.40 at $177.25. With the cash cattle market seeing trade develop at fully steady prices, it's not likely that the market swings higher unless corn really falls out of bed and turns sharply lower.
LEAN HOGS:
The lean hog contracts are trading mostly higher into Thursday's afternoon as the market continues to find adequate technical support and is seeing immense support in the cash market. June lean hogs are up $0.90 at $106.00, July lean hogs are up $1.07 at $108.12 and August lean hogs are up $0.47 at $107.35. It's surprising to see that following yesterday's aggressive cash market where over 17,000 head traded that come Thursday the cash market is having an aggressive morning as close to 4,000 head have already traded. It's tough to put your finger on the reason of why as pork cutout values haven't seen much interest, but with summer outing quickly approaching and Memorial Day weekend a big cookout holiday, it's likely that packers are preparing to meet the market's need and intend to not be short product.
The projected lean hog index for May 4 is down $0.08 at $100.96 and the actual hog index for May 3 is down $0.11 at $101.04. Hog prices are lower on the Daily Direct Morning Hog Report, down $2.66 with a weighted average of $101.58, ranging from $95.00 to $111.00 on 3,601 head and a five-day rolling average of $101.31. Pork cutouts total 135.37 loads with 119.73 loads of pork cuts and 15.64 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: up $4.28, $108.11.
Pork net sales of 23,800 mt for 2022 were down 24% from the previous week and 13% from the prior four-week average. The three largest buyers were Mexico (11,300 mt), South Korea (3,700 mt) and Japan (3,400 mt).
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