Chicago | Reuters—Chicago Mercantile Exchange cattle futures rose on Tuesday on technical trading and anticipation of consumer demand remaining strong going into the Christmas holidays, market analysts said.
“Going into the holidays, consumers are buying beef,” said Karl Setzer, co-founder of Consus Ag Consulting. “They want the prime rib roasts and they’re passing on turkeys,” he said.
Meanwhile, CME lean hog futures eased on technical trading and amid questions about Chinese demand with most-active February futures LHG25 dropping at one point to a multi-week low.
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The American Farm Bureau Federation released data prior to the Thanksgiving holiday indicating that demand for turkey was sharply down in 2024.
Feeder cattle took additional support from low supplies of animals on feed lots in preparation for slaughter, said Setzer.
In CME lean hog futures traders were “getting some downtrend sell signals, technically,” said Don Roose, president of U.S. Commodities.
Growing concern about Chinese pork demand going into next year also weighed on hog futures, as investors worried about the effect of incoming President-elect Donald Trump’s trade policies with the world’s leading pork consumer, Setzer said.
Choice boxed beef lost $2.41 at $311.73 per hundredweight, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture on Tuesday afternoon, but select boxed beef rose $0.31 to $279.65 per cwt.
Packers pared losses to an estimated $32.30 per head on Tuesday, compared with losses of $43.90 per head on Monday and losses of $41.65 a week ago, according to marketing advisory service HedgersEdge.
CME February live cattle LCG25 settled 2.000 cents higher at 189.025 cents per pound, while January feeder cattle FCF25 gained 1.525 cents to settle at 257.325 cents per pound.
CME lean hog futures ended lower, with February futures LHG25 falling 1.925 cents at 84.575 cents per pound. Earlier in the session, the contract dipped to the lowest price since Nov. 20.
The CME lean hog index price was $83.46 for the two days ending Dec. 6, and $83.73 for the two days ending Dec. 5.
