
Cattle added another 62 to 75 cents to the upside on Friday, with December printing a new life of contract high of $152.50. Dec gained a net $4.65 for the week. The week’s cash trade picked up on Thursday and Friday with USDA citing the bulk near $148 in the South and near $151-$152 in the North. At the close, feeder cattle were mostly higher with $0.80 to $1.12 gains. The October contract settled 30 cents weaker. The 10/20 CME Feeder Cattle Index was 17 cents higher to $172.94.
Weekly CFTC data showed the funds were buying back more shorts than closed longs through the week that ended 10/18. That left the group 2,237 contracts more net long on 9,789 contracts of reduced OI, to 37,299 contracts. In feeder cattle managed money firms were 778 contracts less short to 9,018 contracts.
The NASS Cattle on Feed report showed 11.449m head of cattle were on feed as of 10/1. That was a 0.87% reduction yr/yr, right in line with estimates. NASS had 39.7% of the total as heifers, the most for the month since 2001, up from 38.8% in 2021, and up from 39.2% in July’s update. .Placements were also in line with estimates with 2.08m head placed – a 1.8% drop yr/yr. By weight, USDA had more lightweight feeders placed yr/yr at 445k head, with the largest reduction from the 700s at 480k from 498k LY (465k in August). September marketings were 1.86m head, down by 144k from August, but up 3.97% yr/yr. The trade had a 4% yr/yr increase dialed in ahead of the report.
Wholesale Boxed Beef prices from the Friday PM report were $253.71 cwt. in Choice and $224.36 cwt. in Select. That was a 9 cent gain for Choice and a $2.28 increase to Select. were higher on Friday morning with Choice up by 11 cents and Select $3.51 higher. USDA estimated the week’s FI cattle slaughter through Saturday as 673k head. That is up 13k head from last week and is 11k head more than the same week last year. YTD slaughter is up 1.6% from last year’s pace.
Oct 22 Cattle closed at $150.475, up $0.700,
Dec 22 Cattle closed at $152.425, up $0.750,
Feb 23 Cattle closed at $155.525, up $0.675,
Oct 22 Feeder Cattle closed at $175.275, down $0.300
Nov 22 Feeder Cattle closed at $178.350, up $0.800
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.