Cattle Close Off their Lows

Feb cattle firmed up on Thursday afternoon, ending the session with a 7 cent gain. The other nearby contracts stayed in the red, but closed off their lows with 7 to 37 cent losses.  The FCE auction saw 200 of the 857 head listed sold for $157. USDA reported Thursday cash cattle trade from $153-$159, saying the bulk of Southern deals were steady with last week near $157. Feeder cattle futures traded in a wider $1.70 range (Jan) on Thursday, and ended the day $0.75 to $1.67 in the red across the front months. The 1/04 CME Feeder Cattle Index was $180.31 after a 42 cent drop.    

Converted Census data has 277m lbs of beef exports for November. That is down by 6% from October, and is 8% lower yr/yr. The yearly total reached 3.27b lbs through November – only 160m lbs behind 2021’s record as the second most all time with still the month of December to add. 

Wholesale Boxed Beef prices were mixed on Thursday with a $1.26 drop in Choice and a 55 cent boost for Select. That tightened the spread to $24.68. USDA estimated the FI cattle slaughter for the week at 385k head. 

Feb 23 Cattle  closed at $157.350, up $0.075,

Apr 23 Cattle  closed at $161.275, down $0.150,

Jun 23 Cattle  closed at $157.275, down $0.075,

Jan 23 Feeder Cattle  closed at $183.800, down $1.425

Mar 23 Feeder Cattle  closed at $186.550, down $1.675