Dec Cattle Drop on Last Trade Day

December ended with a $3.67 drop to expire at $154.82 and only 6 deliveries on the last day. The other fat cattle futures closed Friday with 32 to 95 cent losses. For the week, Feb cattle were 15 cents higher and had set a new contract high. Feeder cattle ended 10 to 55 cents in the red on Friday, leaving Jan as a net 30 cent drop for the week. USDA reported some light to moderate cash trade on Thursday. In the South, trade went for $157, with $248-$250 for the North’s dressed market. The CME Feeder Cattle Index for 12/29 was $181.93 after a $2.09 increase. 

The weekly CoT report had live cattle spec traders at a 79,751 contract net long as of 12/27 – the most since February. That came via 4.6k fewer spec shorts and 9.6k more spec longs. In feeder cattle, CFTC data showed managed money was 286 contracts net short, a 1,352 contract lighter net short wk/wk. Specs have been net short in feeders since 8/23. 

Weekly Export Sales data showed 2,346 MT of beef was sold for 2022 delivery during the week that ended 12/22, and 7,154 MT were sold for 2023 delivery. With 2 weeks of reporting left, accumulated beef commitments were 1.021 MMT. Forward sales into 2023 were at 58,043 MT. 

USDA reported the Wholesale Boxed Beef prices as $281.98 for Choice and $250.93 for Select. That was a $3.12 increase for Choice and was a 23 cent increase for Select. USDA estimated the week’s FI cattle slaughter at 547k head. That set the yearly total at 33.679 million.  

Feb 23 Cattle  closed at $157.900, down $0.950,

Apr 23 Cattle  closed at $161.800, down $0.650,

Jun 23 Cattle  closed at $157.825, down $0.325,

Jan 23 Feeder Cattle  closed at $183.700, down $0.100

Mar 23 Feeder Cattle  closed at $186.225, down $0.550