Cattle prices rise
Fed cattle prices opened the week under pressure but improved to the
previous week’s levels from mid-week on.
Average prices wound up mostly steady with the previous week, Canfax
said. Most buyers were Canadian, but some of the higher bids were from
American buyers.
Alberta prices July 18 were steers $87.50-$91 per hundredweight, flat
rail $146.70-$147.70 and heifers $86.50.
Calgary wholesale beef prices are steady with handyweight carcasses at
$146-$159 per cwt., mostly $146-$148.
Read Also
USDA’s August corn yield estimates are bearish
The yield estimates for wheat and soybeans were neutral to bullish, but these were largely a sideshow when compared with corn.
The Montreal market was down $2 at $144-$153.
Summer beef sales have been fairly steady, Canfax said. Cutout values
showed improvement.
Packers appear comfortable on inventory but are also aware that as the
summer winds down, so will market-ready supplies.
Canfax expected that Alberta prices should hover around $90 per cwt.
this week.
U.S. market
American market traders were showing increasing optimism last week with
demand and kill improving.
Rising beef cut prices were improving packers’ margins.
Other factors to consider are consumer reaction to the ConAgra tainted
beef recall and economic worries caused by the falling stock market.
Calf run early
Price pressure appeared in feeder cattle as the early fall calf run
picked up speed, said Canfax.
Light steers were $1-$3 per cwt. lower while steers over 700 lb. were
steady to just $1.50 lower; heifers were mostly $2-$3.25 lower.
Volumes were large for this time of year. Sales were running at 21/2
times the rate of last year.
Cow-calf pairs and slaughter cows made a large percentage of the mix,
but it seems producers are weaning calves and bringing yearlings to
town earlier due to drought in many areas.
Canfax said rising feed costs will put pressure on feeder prices, but
mostly on light calves due to concerns that there will be a shortage of
grass yearlings this year.
Cow-calf pair volume was large with most trading at $1,000-$1,250.
Some mature cows with calves traded as low as $750, while quality young
pairs sold as high as $1,500. A few bred cows traded at $850-$1,400.
Cattle on feed
Analysts considered the July 1 United States Department of Agriculture
cattle-on-feed report mostly neutral.
The number of cattle on feed
July 1 was down five percent from 2001, placements of cattle on feed
during June were down 16 percent and marketings during June were down
three percent from a year earlier.
Most analysts said the report looked slightly bearish at first, but it
had probably already been factored into the market.
Pork prices weaken
Lower wholesale prices for pork loins and butts led to declining pork
cutout values in the U.S.
Retailers appeared to be taking advantage of large available pork
supplies and forecasts of lower hog prices later in the year by
delaying orders as long as possible, said Manitoba Agriculture.
Although retailers are paying less for pork, consumers are getting few
price breaks. The farm-to-wholesale price spread for pork is down from
a year ago, while the wholesale-to-retail spread has increased.
Average retail pork prices were above year-earlier levels for the first
five months of 2002 and there is no reason to believe the situation has
changed much since then, the department said.
The Iowa-Minnesota daily direct hog price (plant mean, 51-52 percent
lean, live equivalent) declined to $41.97 US per cwt. on July18, from
$42.92 on July 16.
On average, the week’s hog price was less than one percent above the
previous week’s price.
U.S. sow slaughter increased by about seven percent in June. If the
rate of breeding herd reduction continues, it is likely that the U.S.
sow herd will be below year-earlier levels later in 2002.
The corresponding year-over-year decrease in slaughter hog sales will
occur in 2003.
The U.S. hog cycle appears to be following the normal trend.
