Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange livestock futures slumped on Thursday, with live cattle and feeder cattle setting four-month lows.
The cattle markets came under continued pressure from weakness in equities, which lost ground as the Ukraine crisis kept investors on edge, traders said.
In grain markets, soaring costs for corn and wheat threaten to raise production costs for livestock producers that use the crops for feed. Meanwhile, prices for boxed beef shipped to wholesale buyers tumbled.
CME April live cattle ended 1.75 cents weaker at 138.35 cents per pound and reached its lowest price since Nov. 2. March feeder cattle dropped 1.95 cents to 156.35 cents/lb. and touched its lowest price since Nov. 2.
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In the boxed beef market, choice cutout values fell by $1.37, to $254.35/cwt, while the select cutout sank by $3.55, to $247.79/cwt, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) said.
USDA, in a separate weekly report, said net export sales of U.S. beef in the week ended Feb. 24 reached 23,800 tonnes for 2022. That was up 64 per cent from the previous week and 23 per cent from the prior four-week average.
Weekly U.S. pork export sales were 42,200 tonnes for 2022, up 59 per cent from the previous week and 80 per cent from the prior four-week average, USDA said.
CME April lean hog futures closed 1.1 cents down at 105.2 cents/lb., while June hogs ended up 0.05 cent at 116.5 cents/lb.
In other news, billionaire activist investor Carl Icahn is broadening a push to get McDonald’s Corp. to improve suppliers’ treatment of pigs raised for bacon and sausage.
— Reporting for Reuters by Tom Polansek in Chicago.
