Chicago cattle and hog futures fell for the second day running ahead of Friday’s cattle on feed report.
Most-active December live cattle closed at 232.675 cents a pound, down 2.475 cents. October contracts settled at 231.100 cents a pound, down 2.350 cents.
Most-traded October feeder cattle futures closed at 349.125 cents per pound, a loss of 5.175 cents. November feeders settled at 344.125 cents a pound, down 5.275 cents.
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The USDA valued choice boxed beef at $388.18 per cwt, down $4.44. Select boxed beef settled at $366.37 per cwt, a loss of $6.80.
Ahead of Friday’s monthly USDA Cattle on Feed report, analysts surveyed by Reuters on average expected the government to report the number of cattle in U.S. feedlots as of September 1 to be down 0.9 per cent from a year ago.
Analysts on average estimated that the number of cattle placed into feedlots during August would be down nine per cent from a year earlier and marketings were seen down 12.8 per cent from a year ago.
The U.S. Federal Reserve cut rates by 25 basis points on Wednesday and indicated it will steadily lower borrowing costs for the rest of the year, Reuters reported. Policymakers are responding to concerns about weakness in the job market.
Analyst Chris Swift wrote that if anything impacted employed consumers’ ability to afford beef, beef prices could fall sharply.
“The past few weeks have seen beef prices drop sharply, suggesting that maybe there are not as many still willing to pay the higher price or consume more,” Swift wrote. “With beef prices declining, at least for the moment, it leads to anticipation of a trickle down effect for which packers have already begun to seize by lowering bids for cattle.”
Most-active December lean hogs closed at 87.650 cents a pound, down 0.575 cents. February contracts closed down 0.500 cents at 89.700 cents a pound.
The USDA put pork carcass cutout value at $110.98 per cwt, down $1.30, in its afternoon report.
