Lean hog trade at a standstill - CME
Cattle futures firm on lower supplies
27 March 2025
2 minute read
By: Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) cattle futures were higher on Wednesday as packers were willing to pay up for limited supplies, Reuters reported, citing analysts.
Lean hog futures continued to be locked in a sideways trade ahead of a US Department of Agriculture (USDA) data release and as investors anticipated an array of tariffs set for April 2.
CME June live cattle ended up 0.700 cent at 203.025 cents per pound.
CME April feeder cattle settled up 1.025 cents at 285.875 cents per pound.
CME's April lean hog contract rose 0.900 cent to finish at 87.55 cents per pound.
"Cattle are hard to find," said Altin Kalo, chief economist at Steiner Consulting Group.
Storms in the middle of the country over the last two weeks caused disruptions to the slaughter that reduced cattle supplies for packers, Kalo said.
"And since they're having to pay up near record prices for cattle, while at the same time seeing their margins compressed, they have raised their prices across the board."
Beef packer margins remained in the red on Wednesday, with packers losing an estimated $108.45 per head of cattle, according to livestock marketing advisory service HedgersEdge.com. That was down from a week ago, when packers were facing losses of $121.10 per head.
In wholesale values, the USDA reported choice cuts of boxed beef were up $3.11 to $338.30 per hundredweight (cwt) on Wednesday afternoon. Select cuts were up $2.48 at $316.53 per cwt.
In lean hog futures, Kalo said, "It seems like everybody's waiting for April 2 to see what's going to happen with trade with Mexico and Canada and other countries," with a swath of US import tariffs set to start on that date.
The USDA Hogs and Pigs report, due out tomorrow, should also give an indication of the direction of supplies for the spring and summer, said Kalo.
"For now, it's more of a holding pattern than anything else," he said.
