Live cattle futures were down by 22 to 50 cents at Wednesday’s settle, though April was 60 cents off the day’s low. USDA had some light cash trade on Wednesday mostly near $186, though trade remains mostly unestablished for the week. Feeder cattle futures were also down by 12 to 55 cents for the day, and April was also ~60c off the session low. The CME Feeder Cattle Index was another 39 cents stronger on 3/19 to $251.41.
Traders are looking for NASS to show March 1 on feed at 11.79m head, which would be 0.9% above last year if realized. Estimates for placements range from a 4.5% increase to an 8.8% increase from Feb ’23. Feb marketings are expected to come in 3.8% over last year on average.
USDA’s Boxed Beef prices were 22 cents stronger in Choice and 47 cents weaker in Select on Wednesday afternoon, widening the Chc/Sel spread back to $10.73. USDA reported the week’s FI cattle slaughter at 358k head through Wednesday. That remains 7k head above last week’s pace, but is still 20k head behind the same week last year.
Apr 24 Cattle closed at $187.800, down $0.250,
Jun 24 Cattle closed at $184.775, down $0.225,
Aug 24 Cattle closed at $183.700, down $0.325,
Mar 24 Feeder Cattle closed at $250.250, down $0.425
Apr 24 Feeder Cattle closed at $254.925, down $0.150
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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