Live cattle futures closed the Tuesday session with 17 to 47 cent gains in the nearbys and other contracts lower. Preliminary open interest was up 4,273 contracts. The cash market has been quiet to start the week. Last week’s cash movement was up $7-8 to $210 in the South and $212-216 in the North.
Feeder cattle futures were mixed on the session with contracts down 40 to 80 cents and nearby March up 37 cents. The CME Feeder Cattle Index was back up 26 cents on March 24, with the average price at $287.25. The Monday OKC feeder cattle auction had 6,191 head for sale, selling up $4-8 wk/wk for steers, and heifers $3 to $12 higher.
Monthly Cold Storage data showed beef stocks of 428.13 million lbs at the end of February. That was a decline of 5.92% from the previous month and 2.27% below the same month last year.
The Tuesday afternoon National Wholesale Boxed Beef report from USDA was higher, as the Chc/Sel widened back out to $21.14. Choice boxes shot $8.09 higher to $335.19/cwt, with Select up 47 cents to $314.05. The Tuesday Federally inspected cattle slaughter was estimated at 124,000 head by USDA, taking the week to date total to 243,000 head. That is 6,000 head above the previous week and up 3,407 head from the same week last year.
Apr 25 Live Cattle closed at $206.375, up $0.475,
Jun 25 Live Cattle closed at $202.325, up $0.175,
Aug 25 Live Cattle closed at $198.875, down $0.175,
Mar 25 Feeder Cattle closed at $286.975, up $0.375,
Apr 25 Feeder Cattle closed at $284.850, down $0.400,
May 25 Feeder Cattle closed at $284.125, down $0.725,
On the date of publication, Austin Schroeder 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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