Live cattle futures saw mixed trade at Tuesday’s close, with April up 35 cents and other nearby contracts down 7 to 15 cents. Preliminary open interest was up 2,460 contracts, with April down 2,284 contracts. Cash trade has yet to get kicked off this week. Last week was strong, at $203 in the South, with Northern action at $205-206.
Feeder cattle futures were 35 cents higher in the front months and May down a nickel on Tuesday. The CME Feeder Cattle Index was back up $0.84 on March 17, with the average price at $284.11. The weekly OKC feeder cattle auction from Monday had sales on 7,489 head. Sales were listed at $5-10 higher for feeder steers and up $2-6 for feeder heifers. Steer calves were up $3-6, with heifers steady.
USDA’s Tuesday afternoon National Wholesale Boxed Beef report was higher, as the Chc/Sel widened to $14.09. Choice boxes were up $2.16 at $323.32/cwt, with Select $1.33 higher at $309.23. Tuesday’s Federally inspected cattle slaughter was estimated at 123,000 head by USDA, with the week to date total at 237,000 head. That is 2,000 head below the previous week, and down 2,868 from the same week last year.
Apr 25 Live Cattle closed at $205.375, up $0.350,
Jun 25 Live Cattle closed at $201.000, down $0.075,
Aug 25 Live Cattle closed at $198.700, down $0.150,
Mar 25 Feeder Cattle closed at $284.975, up $0.350,
Apr 25 Feeder Cattle closed at $284.550, up $0.350,
May 25 Feeder Cattle closed at $285.250, down $0.050,
On the date of publication, Austin Schroeder did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. For more information please view the Barchart Disclosure Policy here.
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