Most-active April lean hog futures fell - CME
Cattle futures rise in technical reversal
28 February 2025
2 minute read
By: Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) live cattle futures rallied on Thursday on technical buying, after easing the previous day on fears over slowing consumer meat demand and concerns over the risk for new US tariffs, Reuters reported, citing analysts.
CME April live cattle futures settled up 1.500 cents at 196.125 cents per pound.
April feeder cattle futures ended up 2.025 cents at 275.550 cents per pound.
The most-active April lean hog futures fell 3.925 cents to settle at 84.375 cents per pound and hit their lowest price since October 16.
Climbing cattle futures prices could be attributed to a technical bounce, said Cassie Fish, analyst and author of the Beef newsletter.
Futures took a hit the previous day when the Conference Board's consumer confidence index dropped 7 points, the biggest decline since August 2021, to 98.3 this month. Those numbers stoked fears of falling meat demand among US consumers.
Feeder cattle derived additional support on Thursday from a sharp slide in Chicago Board of Trade corn futures. Cheaper corn tends to make it less expensive to feed cattle being fattened on feed lots for slaughter operations.
Still, traders remained uncertain about the impact of US tariffs planned for imports from Mexico, Canada and China.
Duties could limit cattle shipments into the US from Mexico and Canada. However, investors also fear retaliation by affected countries against US agricultural exports, including beef and pork, if the tariffs are implemented.
On Wednesday, US President Donald Trump had raised hopes for a month-long pause on the tariffs, saying they could instead take effect on April 2. But on Thursday, he said in a post on social media that they would begin on March 4.
