Chicago | Reuters—Live cattle and feeder cattle futures closed mostly lower at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange on Thursday as slow sales of beef products such as hamburgers and steak weighed on prices, Altin Kalo, economist at Steiner Group, said.
“Cash (cattle) prices are not as strong as they were a week or two ago, and you couple that with wholesale beef prices trending lower — the combination of the two isn’t giving people a lot of confidence,” Kalo said.
Analysts noted that the market continues to grapple with a beef oversupply as well as technical pressure following a Memorial Day rally.
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“They’re slaughtering more cattle than expected,” Kalo said.
Wholesale boxed beef prices for choice cuts ticked up on Thursday while select cuts ticked down, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) data.
Traders are also monitoring the spread of bird flu over fears that mass culling could increase near-term beef supply. Reuters reported dairy cows infected with avian flu in five U.S. states have died or been slaughtered by farmers because they did not recover.
A person who contracted the bird flu died in Mexico, the World Health Organization reported on Wednesday. The virus outbreak expanded to 11 states on Thursday as Minnesota announced its first infected herd.
CME August live cattle LCQ24 closed down 0.4 cent at 177.475 cents per pound.
CME August feeder cattle FCQ24 settled down 1.975 cents at 252.85 cents per pound as corn futures rallied by 12 cents.
Hog futures gained on a technical bounce and bargain buying after hitting its lowest price since January in the previous session.
CME July hog futures LHN24 ended up 0.775 cents at 92.975 cents per pound.
