Live cattle futures saw Wednesday weakness with contracts down 20 to 95 cents at the close. Open interest was up 262 contracts, suggesting a rotation of ownership. Cash trade has yet to get kicked off this week. The Wednesday Fed Cattle Exchange online auction showed no sales on the 1,024 head offered, as bids were $233-235 live and $369 in the beef. Feeder cattle futures were up $1.57 in the March contract, which expires on Thursday, with other contracts down 65 cents to $1.77. Open interest was up 1,455 contracts. The CME Feeder Cattle Index was up 19 cents to $361.78 on March 24.
Cold Storage data was out on Tuesday afternoon, with 413.34 million lbs of beef stocks on February 28, the lowest since 2014.
Wholesale Boxed Beef prices were mixed in the Wednesday afternoon report, with the Chc/Sel heading to an inverted $3.80. Choice boxes collapsed $8.22 to $391.69, while Select was 99 cents higher at $395.49. USDA estimated federally inspected cattle slaughter on Wednesday at 103,000 head, with the weekly total at 315,000 head. That was up 7,000 head from last week but 49,954 head below the same week last year.
Apr 26 Live Cattle closed at $234.425, down $0.950,
Jun 26 Live Cattle closed at $233.850, down $0.750,
Aug 26 Live Cattle closed at $231.600, down $0.500,
Mar 26 Feeder Cattle closed at $361.875, up $1.575,
Apr 26 Feeder Cattle closed at $353.350, down $1.100,
May 26 Feeder Cattle closed at $350.050, down $0.650,
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 Policy here.
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