Chicago | Reuters — Benchmark live cattle futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange set life-of-contract highs on Friday and the front contract hit its highest since 2015 as shrinking cattle supplies lifted cash prices, traders said.
Market-ready cattle traded in southern Plains cash markets at $160-$162 per hundredweight (cwt), traders said, steady to $2 higher than the bulk of last week’s trade.
“Cash is definitely the driver here. We are getting a little bit tighter, so packers are trying to get some cattle locked in. They are willing to pay up, and it’s helping to drive the futures higher,” said Austin Schroeder, commodity analyst with Nebraska-based Brugler Marketing.
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Thinly traded February live cattle futures settled up 0.8 cent at 163.575 cents/lb. after reaching 164.075 cents, the highest on a continuous chart of the front contract since April 2015. April cattle, the most active contract, settled up 0.575 cent at 164.65 cents/lb. after setting a contract high at 165.4 cents.
Feeder cattle futures closed mixed, with CME March feeders settling up 0.3 cent at 186.525 cents/lb. and most back months posting modest declines.
Rising wholesale beef prices lent support. Choice cuts were priced at $281.04/cwt, up $1.49 from Thursday and the highest since Jan. 10, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) data. Select cuts rose $3.25, to $265.89/cwt, the highest in a year.
CME lean hog futures closed lower for a third straight session on technical weakness ahead of a U.S. holiday weekend and softer pork prices. April hogs settled down 0.5 cent at 85.275 cents/lb., turning lower after early strength, and June hogs fell 0.425 cent to end at 102.725 cents.
USDA priced the pork carcass cutout at $82.09/cwt on Friday afternoon, down 97 cents from Thursday.
U.S. markets and most government offices will be closed on Monday in observance of the Presidents Day holiday.
— Julie Ingwersen is a Reuters commodities correspondent in Chicago.
