Live cattle futures closed mostly mid-range after an early drop to start the Tuesday session. Front month prices settled 42 to 52 cents lower. April cattle ended the session UNCH. The Tuesday FCE auction sold 135 head of heifers for $174.50. USDA confirmed some limited cash trade from $172.50 to $180 on Tuesday. Feeder cattle saw a 17 cent gain for the August contract, though most of the other nearbys went home red. The CME Feeder Cattle Index was $201.26, down by 98 cents, for 4/24.
The NASS Monthly Cold Storage data showed March beef stocks were an 18-month low at 480.9m lbs. Compared to Feb that was a 3.9% drop and was 10.3% tighter than March last year.
Wholesale Boxed Beef prices were reported at $307.63 in Choice and $287.62 in Select. For Choice that was a 51 cent increase, while Select was down by $1.08. USDA estimated federally inspected cattle slaughter at 252k head for the week through Tuesday. That is 3,000 head above last week’s pace and is 2,000 ahead of the same week last year.
Apr 23 Cattle closed at $174.300, down $0.000,
Jun 23 Cattle closed at $164.025, down $0.525,
Aug 23 Cattle closed at $162.950, down $0.500,
Apr 23 Feeder Cattle closed at $202.075, down $0.475
May 23 Feeder Cattle closed at $209.425, down $1.325
Sep 23 Feeder Cattle closed at $231.875, down $0.125
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.
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