Chicago | Reuters—Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) cattle futures fell on Monday on technical trading, according to analysts, while lean hogs were stuck trading within a tight range following the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s hogs and pigs report released the previous week.
June live cattle LCM25 ended down 1.200 cents at 203.650 cents per pound. Feeder cattle futures followed live cattle lower, with the May contract FCK25 settling down 0.675 cents at 284.500 cents per pound.
Live cattle futures dipped on technical trading, sputtering out after failing to reach new contract highs on Friday, said Don Roose, president of U.S. Commodities.
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As a result, “We’re seeing some liquidation,” said Roose.
Cattle futures were also pressured by worries about inflation and potential trade retaliation from an array of tariffs promised by U.S. President Donald Trump starting April 2, according to analysts.
In wholesale values, choice boxed beef cutout value on Monday afternoon rose $2.44 to $335.26 per hundredweight (cwt), while the select cutout rose $1.33 to $320.01 per cwt.
Beef packer margins remained deep in the red, with losses of $139.35 per head of cattle on Monday, according to livestock marketing advisory service HedgersEdge.com. That’s down even further from last week’s losses of $125.15 per head of cattle.
In the lean hog market, traders were caught in a tight back and forth trade, said analysts, after the USDA released its hog inventory report, which reported that the March 1 supply was just below levels a year ago, and just below the average analyst forecast for a 1.2 per cent increase.
CME June lean hog futures LHM25 fell 0.500 cents to 95.275 cents per pound.
In wholesale pork, the USDA reported pork carcasses on Monday afternoon gained $0.89 at $97.45 per cwt and bellies gained $1.86 to $142.04 per cwt.
—Reporting by Renee Hickman in Chicago
