Chicago | Reuters — The number of cattle placed in U.S. feedlots in September increased one per cent from a year ago, a government report showed on Friday.
Analysts attributed the gain in part to continued profits by feedlots that allowed them to purchase more young calves, or feeder cattle, to fatten.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture report showed September placements at 2.007 million head. It was up one per cent from 1.988 million a year earlier.
Analysts, on average, had expected a 1.9 per cent September placement increase.
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For the week ending August 2, Western Canadian feeder cattle markets traded steady to as much as $10 higher. Quality yearling packages off grass were up as much as $15 in some cases. Prices for similar weight cattle were quite variable across the Prairies, which made the market hard to define. The market appears to be in price discovery mode for the grass yearling market.
USDA put the feedlot cattle supply as of Oct. 1 at 10.058 million head, down one per cent from 10.11 million a year earlier. Analysts polled by Reuters, on average, forecast a decline of 0.3 per cent.
The government said the number of cattle sold to packers, or marketings, was down one per cent in September from a year earlier, to 1.683 million head. Analysts projected a drop of 0.9 per cent from 1.692 million last year.
Analysts viewed the report as neutral to mildly bullish for Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures on Monday.
— Reporting for Reuters by Theopolis Waters in Chicago.
