Triple Digit Losses for Thursday Cattle

Cattle futures flipped back to red on the weekly charts on Thursday with $1.85 to $2.97 losses on the day. April futures still hold a premium out to Dec. Feeders led the way lower on the day with losses of as much as 1.8% as April closed $4.67 in the red. April was down by more than $5 at the low for the day. USDA reported live cattle traded hands from $185 to $190 on Thursday, with light and sporadic volume. The CME Feeder Cattle Index was 27 cents stronger to $248.46. 

Weekly beef export bookings were shown at 11.2k MT for the week that ended 3/7. That was down from 14k MT last week and was a new low for the year. The week’s shipment came in at 16k MT for an accumulated export of 149k MT. That remains 8.5% ahead of last year’s pace. 

USDA’s PM Boxed Beef prices were shown at $310.78 in Choice and at $301.69 for Select. That was a 96c increase for Choice and represented a 65c increase for Select. The rib primals were shown at $468.33 and $453.56 respectively. USDA’s FI cattle slaughter estimate was at 473k head for the week through Thursday. That is down 11,000 head from last week and compares to 498k head during the same week last year. 

Apr 24 Cattle  closed at $186.950, down $2.975,

Jun 24 Cattle  closed at $183.375, down $2.675,

Aug 24 Cattle  closed at $182.100, down $2.275,

Mar 24 Feeder Cattle  closed at $247.475, down $2.800

Apr 24 Feeder Cattle  closed at $251.175, down $4.675