Cattle Drop with Tuesday Follow Through
Fat cattle futures were $3.10 to $3.55 lower across the front months. The June contract bumped against the 100-day moving average for the session low – which was the weakest print since late January. Feeders also fell by as much as 2.13% across the front months with $5 losses. USDA had no cash activity for the week through Tuesday, last week’s cash trade as mostly near $188 in the South and mostly near $190 in the North. The CME Feeder Cattle Index for 3/25 was 7 cents weaker to $251.63.
NASS Cold Storage data showed 442.75 million lbs of beef was in the freezer in Feb. That was a 6% drop from Jan stocks and was the tightest February supply since 2014.
USDA’s Wholesale Boxed Beef prices were mixed on Tuesday with Choice 20 cents stronger to $311.09, while Select was $1.70 weaker to $300.26. Tuesday’s FI cattle slaughter was 125k head, for a weekly total of 243k head. That compares to 242k head last week and 250k head for the same week last year.
Apr 24 Cattle closed at $183.100, down $3.100,
Jun 24 Cattle closed at $178.375, down $3.225,
Aug 24 Cattle closed at $176.425, down $3.550,
Mar 24 Feeder Cattle closed at $247.725, down $1.725
Apr 24 Feeder Cattle closed at $245.450, down $5.000
On the date of publication, Alan Brugler 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.
