Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures on Tuesday rose to their highest level since April on concerns about tightening livestock supplies, analysts said.
Feeder cattle futures hit a February high, while lean hog futures fell to their lowest level in more than a week.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is projecting cattle will become more expensive next year and beef production will decline as drought is reducing herd sizes. Producers are sending more animals to slaughter, instead of keeping them to reproduce, because of elevated feed costs and limited supplies of pasture for grazing.
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U.S. livestock: Cattle futures come down from highs
Cattle futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange were weaker on Monday, coming down from recent highs.
A monthly USDA report due on Friday is expected to show about the same number of cattle in feedlots compared to last year, according to a Reuters survey of analysts. Marketing of cattle in July are expected to be down 2.9 per cent from a year earlier, while July placements are seen down 1.5 per cent.
“Reports of exceptional drought-related cattle movement in the Southern Plains were noted for the month,” said Kevin Coburn, senior economist for S&P Global Commodity Insights.
CME October live cattle futures settled 1.875 cents higher at 145.675 cents/lb. (all figures US$).
CME September feeder cattle futures advanced 2.475 cents to close at 185.475 cents/lb. The market got a boost from declining prices for grains used for animal feed, said Matt Wiegand, commodity broker for FuturesOne.
In other news, some market analysts said China’s demand for U.S. beef could increase if Beijing blocks meat shipments from Australia and New Zealand.
Australia and New Zealand said they were aware of Chinese media reports of a ban on meat imports from both countries by Beijing, but that they had not received any official notice and shipments had been clearing as normal.
In the pork market, CME October lean hogs sank four cents, to 96.575 cents/lb., and touched their lowest price since Aug. 4. That is down from a contract high of 101.65 reached last week.
— Tom Polansek reports on agriculture and ag commodities for Reuters from Chicago.
