Chicago | Reuters—Chicago Mercantile Exchange cattle futures turned lower on Monday, shedding a post-holiday rally on demand concerns and news that beef-loving Argentines are cutting back on buying steaks as the country’s economy slumps.
Meanwhile, CME lean hog futures ended the day mostly lower amid ongoing concern that pork production is outpacing consumer demand, traders said.
Argentina’s beef consumption in 2024 is expected to be the lowest since record-keeping began in 1914, according to a recent report from the Rosario exchange, which publishes market updates for grains and livestock. The South American nation’s economy has been hit hard by triple-digit inflation, a recession and rising poverty and unemployment.
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“The question is whether all that beef will hit the export market,” said Karl Setzer, partner at Consus Ag. “Traders are also paying attention to Fourth of July beef demand, which wasn’t that spectacular, and the weakness we saw across all the commodity markets today.”
Strength in the U.S. dollar also cast a bearish tone over livestock futures on the day, traders said, as a stronger dollar tends to make U.S. commodities less attractive on the export market.
Wholesale boxed beef prices turned higher. The choice boxed beef cutout price was up $1.53 at $331.96 per hundredweight (cwt) on Monday morning, while select was up $1.34 at $306.40 per cwt, according to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The CME August live cattle contract LCQ24 settled down 2.075 cents at 184.350 cents per pound. CME August feeders FCQ24 finished down 2.30 cents at 259.175 cents per pound.
CME August lean hog futures LHQ24 settled up 0.35 cent at 89.525 cents per pound. October lean hog futures LHV24 – which set a new contract low during the session – ended down 0.95 cent at 72.525 cents per pound.
