Live cattle futures settled the Friday session with contracts up 22 cents to 40 cents lower. February slipped back down $2.025 from last Friday. Cash trade last week came in at $200-201 in the South, with sales reported of $202-205 on NE. Feeder cattle futures were 5 to 32 cents higher in the front months, with deferreds down 7 to 50 cents. January was up $1.15 last week. The CME Feeder Cattle Index was back down $1.25 from the day prior at $277.06 on January 16.
Large managed money spec traders in live cattle futures and options added 3,965 contracts to their net long as of last Tuesday, to 147,421 contracts. Speculators in feeder cattle futures and options added 2,365 contracts in the week of January 14 to a new record net long of 28,749 contracts.
USDA wholesale Boxed Beef prices were mixed in the Friday PM report, with the Chc/Sel spread tightening to $13.86. Choice boxes were up 28 cents at $333.69/cwt, with Select 45 cents higher @ $319.83. USDA estimated federally inspected cattle slaughter last week was tallied at 603,000 head. That is 14,000 head above last week and down 2,147 head from the same week last year.
Feb 25 Live Cattle closed at $196.750, up $0.150,
Apr 25 Live Cattle closed at $197.500, down $0.175,
Jun 25 Live Cattle closed at $192.200, up $0.225,
Jan 25 Feeder Cattle closed at $273.500, up $0.050,
Mar 25 Feeder Cattle closed at $268.050, up $0.325,
Apr 25 Feeder Cattle closed at $268.125, down $0.075,
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. More news from Barchart- What is Pushing Cattle Prices Higher?
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