Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange cattle futures fell on Monday, with the market under pressure from a government report that showed supplies were bigger than expected.
The U.S. Agriculture Department’s monthly Cattle on Feed report on Friday afternoon showed July placements at 111 per cent of a year ago, above the average estimate in a Reuters analyst poll of 105.9 per cent.
The number of cattle on feed as of Aug. 1, at 11.284 million head, was 102 per cent of the year prior, above the average trade estimate of 100.7 per cent.
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CME benchmark October live cattle ended 0.625 cent lower at 107.925 cents/lb. (all figures US$). October feeder cattle lost 2.45 cents to end at 142.825 cents/lb.
Feeder cattle futures bottomed out at their lowest since July 29 while live cattle touched the lowest since Aug. 12.
CME October lean hogs rose 0.35 cent to close at 54.6 cents/lb.
U.S. frozen pork inventories fell in July to the lowest level for any month in nine years, the U.S. Agriculture Department said after the close on Monday, even after meatpacking plants shut by COVID-10 resumed operations.
Daily hog slaughter reached 480,000 head on Monday.
— Mark Weinraub is a Reuters commodities correspondent in Chicago.
