@font-face { font-family: “Times”; }@font-face { font-family: “Geneva”; }@font-face { font-family: “Cambria”; }p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 14pt; font-family: “Times New Roman”; }h3 { margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 13.5pt; font-family: “Times New Roman”; }span.Heading3Char { font-family: Times; font-weight: bold; }div.Section1 { page: Section1; }
May 14 (Reuters) – Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures were seen higher on Tuesday due to ongoing trades near record high prices in the wholesale beef market and solid packer profit margins, traders said.
Firm cash hog markets likely will provide at least a short-term boost to hog futures but cautious buying prevail due to an expected seasonal sag soon, they said.
Read Also
Canadian Financial Close: Loonie drops, new record for TSX
Glacier FarmMedia | MarketsFarm – The Canadian dollar tumbled on Friday but still ended the week slightly higher than the last….
LIVE CATTLE – At 8:43 a.m. CDT, CME June live cattle were up 0.175 cent per pound at 120.750 cents per lb. August was up 0.075 at 120.950.
* Support from the wholesale beef market that continues to trade near record highs and on some expectations for firm cash steer markets this week in the U.S. High Plains feedlot region.
* USDA’s boxed beef market report late on Monday showed choice wholesale carcasses up 15 cents per hundredweight at $205.13 per cwt.
* Traders also said support to cattle futures would stem from improved profitability by packers in processing cattle as profit margins showed a marked improvement.
* Estimated margins for U.S. beef packing companies on Monday were a positive $42.00 per head, up from $36.25 on Friday and up from $3.90 per head a week ago, according to Denver-based livestock marketing advisory HedgersEdge.com LLC.
FEEDER CATTLE – At 8:44 a.m. CDT, August feeders were up 0.150 cent per lb. at 146.350 cents per lb.
* Feeder cattle were garnering support from the firm wholesale beef and brighter packer profits as well.
* Prospects for lower corn and feed prices later in the season were keeping aggressive selling of feeder futures to a minimum.
* The benchmark Oklahoma City feeder cattle auction report form Monday showed feeder steers steady and feeder heifers steady to $2.00 per hundredweight higher. The early demand was good and improved from last week, especially for heavier weight cattle.
* The CME feeder cattle index for the seven days ending May 10 was 134.34 and for the seven days ending May 9 it was 134.35.
* Lower CBOT corn futures lending support.
LEAN HOGS – At 8:45 a.m. CDT, June hogs were up 0.450 cent per lb. at 91.375 cents per lb. July was up 0.325 at 91.350.
* Firm cash hog markets early in the week lending support.
* Estimated margins for U.S. pork packing companies were a minus $6.25 per head on Monday, up from a negative $10.35 on Friday and up from a negative $7.90 a week ago, according to Denver-based livestock marketing advisory service HedgerEdge.com LLC.
* The CME lean hog index for the two days ending May 9 was 91.31 and for the two days ending May 8 it was 90.56.
