Supplies heavy for beef and pork
Fed cattle prices tumbled early last week due to heavy supplies, but recovered slightly by week’s end.
Jan. 29 prices were steers $80-$87.10 per hundredweight and heifers $81.50-$88.95.
“Local cattle supplies are still expected to be on the lighter side through February, helping feeders’ bargaining position. However, packers seem to be clear with their discounts on the very heavy cattle,” Canfax said.
Price ranges will be even wider in coming weeks as light, fall-placed calves start coming onto the market.
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The short-term outlook is for steady prices. The Calgary-Omaha basis narrowed last week.
Beef movement has been erratic. Prices last week rose $2 to $174 per cwt. in Montreal and held steady in Calgary at $144-$156.
Hide prices rose slightly after falling several weeks due to weak demand from Asia.
The western cow trade dropped $2.50 per cwt. last week with the most noticeable drop at the top end of good quality D1,2 cows. The outlook is for steady to weaker prices. Feeder cattle prices rose again, but not as much as the previous week.
Canfax said the stronger prices attracted more cattle to market. Numbers were about double last year’s volume. The outlook is for prices to level off on most weight classes because the drop in fed cattle prices could make feedlots nervous.
The stock cow trade started to pick up. The bulk of sales were at $800-$1,100 for bred cows and $600-$1,125 for heifers. The outlook is for steady prices.
American pork supplies strong
There is a large supply of pork in the United States. Market weights are still about two pounds above last year’s level. Combined with hog slaughter of close to two million head, that meant U.S. packers had about eight percent more pork last week than a year ago in addition to the large supply of frozen pork in storage.
Analysts expect U.S. hog marketings and average hog market weights to start to decline in the next month, which could reduce the pressure on hog prices. The Omaha cash price Jan. 30 was $37.75 per cwt. up $1.25 from the previous Friday.
Helped by the falling Canadian dollar value, average Manitoba Index 100 hog prices (including premiums) were stronger this week rising to $138.35 per 100 kilograms on Jan. 28, said Manitoba Agriculture.
While retail pork prices have dropped, they have not kept pace with the falling farm price. The spread between retail and farm for 1998 is expected to be a record high, said Saskatchewan Pork International.
Strikes at two plants in Ontario and the closure of a plant in Alberta resulted in hog slaughter in those provinces falling by about 36 percent and 25 percent respectively in January compared to year-earlier levels. Hog slaughter in Quebec and Saskatchewan rose by about six percent during the same period. Manitoba slaughter is up about 50 percent, Manitoba Agriculture said.
