Cattle Close Near New Highs
The May feeder cattle contract missed out on new contract highs set across the rest of the live cattle and feeder futures. For April live cattle the 80c gain on Friday left the contract at a net $5.35 gain for the week and a $2.87 gain for the month. During the month of March, April fats traded in a $7.90 range from -$4.85 to +$3.05. Feeder cattle futures went into the weekend with $0.80 to $1.27 gains. That left the April contract at a net $6.02 gain for the week and a $5.70 gain for the month. The fall contracts remain $21 to $25 above the spot month.
CFTC’s weekly Commitment of Traders report had 6.5k fewer contracts in play for the managed money funds after the week that ended 3/28. The group’s net long shrank by 1.1k contracts to 62,631. In feeders the spec funds were 6,687 contracts net long after long liquidation lightly offset the short covering.
Friday’s cash market was light from $168 to $173. The bulk of trade this week was near $170 in the North and near $166 in the South. The CME Feeder Cattle Index for 3/30 was $193.34, up by 99 cents.
USDA reported Wholesale Boxed Beef prices at $282.07, up by $2.87, for Choice and $270.72, up by $2.26, for Select in Friday afternoon’s release. USDA estimated the FI cattle slaughter at 651,000 head for the week through Saturday. That is 25,000 higher for the week and is 12,000 head more than the same week last year. The YTD slaughter still trails last year’s pace by 2.3%.
Apr 23 Cattle closed at $168.350, up $0.800,
Jun 23 Cattle closed at $162.125, up $1.125,
Aug 23 Cattle closed at $161.425, up $1.075,
Apr 23 Feeder Cattle closed at $200.825, up $0.925
May 23 Feeder Cattle closed at $205.250, up $0.800
Sep 23 Feeder Cattle closed at $224.225, up $1.100
On the date of publication, Alan Brugler 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.