Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures set a new high in the front-month contract on Monday on technical buying and concerns over tightening U.S. supplies, analysts said.
August live cattle reached its life-of-contract high of 181.6 cents/lb. before retreating to settle 0.05 cent lower at 180.125 cents/lb. (all figures US$).
October live cattle ended down 0.375 cent at 182.25 cents/lb. after hitting a contract high last week.
Limited cattle supplies continue to support the market, after U.S. ranchers reduced their herds due to drought and high feed costs, brokers said.
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“For the moment it’s a bull market that’s doing bull market things,” a commodity broker said.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture will provide an update on cattle supplies on Friday when it issues a bi-annual inventory report and separate monthly data about the number of cattle on feed.
USDA on Monday priced choice cuts of boxed beef at $306.78 per hundredweight (cwt), up 84 cents, while prices for select cuts were lower.
In the feeder cattle market, August futures settled up 2.6 cents at 249.25 cents/lb. That was a record closing price for the contract.
Weaker corn prices helped support the market after feeder cattle eased last Thursday, brokers said.
“It’s been a nice two-day recovery in the feeders,” a broker said.
In CME lean hogs, August futures settled down 1.425 cents at 94.775 cents/lb. October hogs ended down 1.275 cents at 82.325 cents.
Second-quarter pork output in China, the world’s biggest pork consumer and hog producer, rose 4.6 per cent from a year earlier to 14.4 million metric tonnes, the highest in at least a decade for the period, Reuters calculations based on official data showed.
— Tom Polansek reports on agriculture and ag commodities for Reuters from Chicago.
