Livestock Deaths Persist Through Friday
In the latest cattle market update, several notable trends have emerged.
Shipments of cattle saw a slight increase last week, reaching 11,486 MT. This figure is a modest uptick from the previous week's total.
Japan emerged as the top buyer of US beef last week, purchasing 5,000 MT. The net long position of speculative funds in live cattle futures and options contracts in the USA, however, remains unavailable in the latest search results.
The CME Feeder Cattle Index showed some fluctuations throughout the month. On September 4, the index was back up $2.61 at $363.96. However, by October 25, the index had decreased to $357.900, marking a drop from the previous month's closing price. The index for September 25 and the dates following remained unavailable.
Cash activity prices saw some variation this week. Sales of $242-243 were reported, with prices steady in some regions and $1 higher in the South, while being $2-3 weaker in the North. The specific dates for these cash activity sales were not provided.
The Fed Cattle Exchange online auction results also showed some variation. This morning's auction saw sales of $242 on 40 of the 242 head offered, but the results for the dates mentioned in this paragraph were not provided.
Live cattle futures for front months experienced a decline this week, with prices dropping 97 cents to $1.20. The nearby September feeder cattle futures contract followed a similar trend, falling $4.95 this week.
On the futures market, October live cattle futures were $3.67 lower this week. Conversely, feeder cattle futures closed out Friday with contracts down $1 to $2.
Weekly Export Sales data showed a significant increase, with a total of 16,573 MT of beef sold in the week of August 28, marking a 6-week high. Shipments data for the dates mentioned in this paragraph were not provided.
Closing prices for Feeder Cattle saw a slight decrease. Nov 25 Feeder Cattle closed at $356.150, down $1.925 from Oct 25. The price on Sep 25 remained steady at $359.825, while Feb 26 Live Cattle closed at $238.675, down $1.200.
It is important to note that, as of the date of publication, Austin Schroeder did not have positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article.
In conclusion, while there were some fluctuations in the cattle market this week, the overall trend seems to indicate a slight decrease in prices for both live cattle and feeder cattle. The top buyer of US beef remained Japan, and export sales saw a significant increase, reaching a 6-week high.
