The livestock complex is trading mixed into Thursday's noon hour as the cattle contracts are seeing a midweek setback, but the lean hog contracts continue to trade higher. Some live cattle have sold in the South for $208, which is $6.00 to $7.00 higher than last week's weighted average. March corn is down 6 1/2 cents per bushel and March soybean meal is down $5.40. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 71.70 points.
Thursday's export report shared that beef net sales of 20,200 mt for 2025 were primarily for South Korea (11,300 mt), Japan (3,800 mt) and Mexico (2,100 mt). Pork net sales of 33,600 mt for 2025 were primarily for Mexico (11,800 mt), China (11,200 mt) and South Korea (3,700 mt).
LIVE CATTLE:The live cattle complex is currently being pulled in two very opposite directions as, technically speaking, the market is enduring what appears to be a midweek correction as the contracts are falling anywhere from $2.00 to $3.00 lower, all while the cash cattle market is again trading $6.00 to $7.00 higher in the Southern plains. February live cattle are down $3.05 at $203.97, April live cattle are down $3.90 at $201.05 and June live cattle are down $3.17 at $195.57. The market's nearest support plane lies at $198 in the spot April contract, which is a steep fall away from its current price of $201.05. Pinpointing what's caused the technical turmoil this morning is challenging, as there's more than enough fundamental support developing to outweigh most anything. But given the sheer fact that the contracts are trading at all-time high levels, traders could just be showing signs of some technical exhaustion. Bids of $330 have surfaced in Nebraska, but otherwise, there's been no business in the North.
Boxed beef prices are lower: choice down $1.68 ($328.86) and select down $4.23 ($316.44) with a movement of 73 loads (35.54 loads of choice, 19.69 loads of select, 12.54 loads of trim and 5.10 loads of ground beef).
FEEDER CATTLE:The feeder cattle complex is following right in line with the live cattle market's trend this morning as the contracts are enduring stiff technical pressure. March feeders are down $2.82 at $272.42, April feeders are down $3.07 at $271.52 and May feeders are down $3.47 at $269.50. And even though the fed cash cattle market is proving that it's going to trade higher again this week, traders seem fixated on the contract's morning mayhem and somewhat unable to refocus on the fundamental developments at play.
LEAN HOGS:While the cattle contracts dip lower, the lean hog complex continues with its upward trek as the market remains committed to advancing its position. It's rather impressive that traders continue to push the contracts higher amid the setback in the cattle contracts and upon seeing a slightly lower price in the morning's cutout value. But the carcass's lower price is mostly because of the $3.09 decline in the belly. February lean hogs are up $0.27 at $84.17, April lean hogs are up $0.32 at $91.65 and June lean hogs are up $0.10 at $103.57.
The projected lean hog index for 1/29/2025 is up $0.47 at $83.06 and the actual index for 1/28/2025 is up $0.48 at $82.59. Hog prices are unavailable on the Daily Direct Morning Hog Report because of confidentiality. However, we can see that only 546 head have traded this morning, and that the market's five-day rolling average now sits at $83.00. Pork cutouts total 119.93 loads, with 106.02 loads of pork cuts and 13.92 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: down $0.12, $93.19.
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