Cattle Fall Back on Thursday

Live cattle futures reverted lower on Thursday with contracts down 12 cents to $1.22 at the close. Early cash action has seen $191 trade reported in KS this week, with action up to $195-196 in NE reported on Thursday. This morning’s Central Stockyards Fed Cattle Exchange online auction showed $192 live sales on 2 of the 4 lots. There were no deliveries issued against December live cattle again on Wednesday. Feeder cattle posted losses of 70 cents to $1 on Thursday. The CME Feeder Cattle Index was up $1.61 from the day prior at $263.07 on December 11. 

This morning’s Export Sales report indicated 10,989 MT of 2024 beef was sold in the week ending on 12/5, with 5,409 MT sold for 2025. The combined sales were a 3-week high and 4.57% larger than the same time last year. Japan was the buyer of 6,400 MT in total, with South Korea in for 4,900 MT. Shipments were tallied at 15,065 MT, in that week, which was also the highest in 3 weeks. South Korea was the top destination of 4,500 MT, with 2,900 MT shopped to Japan. 

USDA wholesale Boxed Beef prices were higher in the Thursday PM report. Choice boxes were up $4.01 to $315.24/cwt, with Select $2.32 higher @ $280.48. USDA estimated Thursday’s federally inspected cattle slaughter at 125,000 head, taking the WTD total to 489,000 head. That is 4,000 head above the previous week and down 14,183 from the same week last year. 

Dec 24 Live Cattle  closed at $192.125, down $0.125,

Feb 25 Live Cattle  closed at $190.850, down $0.525,

Apr 25 Live Cattle  closed at $192.175, down $0.450,

Jan 25 Feeder Cattle  closed at $258.350, down $0.700,

Mar 25 Feeder Cattle  closed at $258.575, down $0.800,

Apr 25 Feeder Cattle  closed at $259.225, down $0.950,

On the date of publication, Austin Schroeder did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. For more information please view the Barchart Disclosure Policyhere.