February lean hogs settle down - CME
Cattle futures rise as packers seek inventory
7 January 2025
2 minute read
By: Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) cattle futures moved higher on Monday as meat packers continued to struggle to find cattle for slaughter, Reuters reported, citing market analysts.
CME February live cattle futures ended up 1.150 cents at 195.200 cents per pound, having reached its highest point since October 2023 during the session.
March feeder cattle settled up 1.375 cents at 265.55 cents per pound.
"The cash market is tight on cattle and we're not seeing big deliveries to the packers," said Karl Setzer, partner at Consus Ag Consulting.
Futures had been lifted in recent weeks by the higher prices packers are paying for cattle around the country as they work to secure inventory.
With those high costs, meat packers spent another day in the red on Monday, losing an estimated $20.60 per head, compared with losses of $28.95 per head on Friday and losses of $32.55 a week ago, according to livestock marketing advisory service HedgersEdge.com.
Firm beef prices have also been supportive to futures.
The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) reported that choice cuts of boxed beef on Monday afternoon rose $1.86 to $327.10 per hundredweight (cwt). Select cuts jumped $6.61 to $303.33 per cwt.
CME February lean hogs settled down 1.125 cents at 79.650 cents per pound, the lowest since mid-October, pressured by lack of pork demand both domestically and overseas.
"There's just not the demand for pork that we're seeing for beef right now and there's not as much concern over pork supplies as there is that relatively tight beef supply," Setzer said.
US demand for pork is falling seasonally, said Setzer, and is unlikely to pick up again until spring. Chinese demand continues to be uncertain as the country struggles with an economic malaise.
The USDA reported that the pork cutout was lower on Monday afternoon, with pork carcasses falling $1.71 to $87.83 per cwt.
