17 August 2022

2 minute read

By: Global Ag Media

North America

Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) live cattle futures on Tuesday rose to their highest level since April on concerns about tightening livestock supplies, reported Reuters, citing analysts.

Feeder cattle futures hit a February high, while lean hog futures fell to their lowest level in more than a week.

The US Department of Agriculture is projecting cattle will become more expensive next year and beef production will decline as drought is reducing herd sizes. Producers are sending more animals to slaughter, instead of keeping them to reproduce, because of elevated feed costs and limited supplies of pasture for grazing.

A monthly USDA report due on Friday is expected to show about the same number of cattle in feedlots compared to last year, according to a Reuters survey of analysts. Marketing of cattle in July are expected to be down 2.9% from a year earlier, while July placements are seen down 1.5%.

"Reports of exceptional drought-related cattle movement in the Southern Plains were noted for the month," said Kevin Coburn, senior economist for S&P Global Commodity Insights.

CME October live cattle futures settled 1.875 cents higher at 145.675 cents per lb.

CME September feeder cattle futures advanced 2.475 cents to close at 185.475 cents per lb. The market got a boost from declining prices for grains used for animal feed, said Matt Wiegand, commodity broker for FuturesOne. y

In other news, some market analysts said China's demand for US beef could increase if Beijing blocks meat shipments from Australia and New Zealand.

Australia and New Zealand said they were aware of Chinese media reports of a ban on meat imports from both countries by Beijing, but that they had not received any official notice and shipments had been clearing as normal.

In the pork market, CME August October lean hogs sank 4 cents to 96.575 cents per pound and touched their lowest price since August 4. That is down from a contract high of 101.650 reached last week.