Chicago | Reuters – Chicago Mercantile Exchange hogs closed lower for a third straight day on Thursday, posting new lows for the contract, following downward-trending prices for market-ready, or cash hogs and wholesale pork values, traders said. Plentiful hog supplies and some plants shutting down temporarily to perform routine maintenance, which is typical this time […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Lower cash, pork prices send CME hog futures lower
U.S. feedlots draw more cattle than expected in May
Chicago | Reuters — Ranchers in May drove more cattle into U.S. feedlots than anticipated compared with the same period a year ago, said analysts after Friday’s U.S. Department of Agriculture monthly Cattle on Feed report. The data also showed the June 1 feedlot cattle supply climbed 4.1 per cent from a year earlier — […] Read more
U.S. beef packer margins soar as cattle prices fall
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. beef packers including Tyson Foods and Cargill are racking up historically high margins, thanks to slumping cattle prices amid a supply glut and as Americans turn to beef for their backyard summer barbecues. Supermarkets are stocking up on steaks, hot dogs and hamburgers for the May 26 U.S. Memorial Day […] Read more
U.S. meat groups fear for market growth with China beef tariff hike
Chicago | Reuters — China’s proposal on Wednesday for tariffs on U.S. beef confirmed the worst-case scenario for the U.S. cattle industry, trade groups said Wednesday, even as they remained hopeful the dispute could be resolved quickly. China listed U.S. goods from soybeans to beef that could potentially incur a 25 per cent import tariff […] Read more
U.S. March hog herd hits record high
Chicago | Reuters — The number of hogs on U.S. farms in the December-February quarter was up 3.1 per cent from the same period a year ago, a record high for the quarter, according to Thursday’s U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) report. Farmers added extra pigs, encouraged by less-costly feed during that period and the […] Read more
U.S. cattle placements hit 16-year high for February
Chicago | Reuters — Ranchers drove 7.3 per cent more cattle into U.S. feedlots in February than a year ago, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported on Friday, the most for the month in 16 years. Persistent drought in the U.S. Plains withered winter wheat grazing pastures, which forced beef cattle into feedyards in states […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Funds, weather extend CME live cattle gains
Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures on Friday finished higher for the second day in a row, with help from fund buying and another wintry blast in parts of the U.S. Plains, said traders. Bitter cold tends to slow cattle weight gains, while hazardous conditions disrupt movement of livestock to market. […] Read more
U.S. livestock: CME live cattle limit up on fund buying
Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures on Thursday touched a three-month top, spurred by short-covering and fund buying, said traders. April closed up its three-cent-per-pound daily price limit (all figures US$). Investors bought that contract and simultaneously sold February. The limit will expand to 4.5 cents on Friday. February live cattle […] Read more
Drought lands more cattle into U.S. feedlots than expected
Chicago | Reuters — Ranchers sent nearly one per cent more cattle to U.S. feedlots in December than the same time a year earlier, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported on Friday. The result topped most analysts’ predictions, mainly led by worsening drought in the U.S. southern Plains that shriveled available winter wheat grazing pasture. […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Beef quotes send CME live cattle higher
Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures on Tuesday gained after triggering buy stops, spurred by the morning’s wholesale beef price rebound, traders said. Firmer wholesale beef values stirred bull spreads, in which traders bought February futures and simultaneously sold deferred months. February live cattle finished 1.175 cents/lb. higher at 124.725 cents […] Read more
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