Cattle futures fall as US port strike continues – CME

Nearby hogs end up

Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) livestock futures fell on technical trading as the session ended on Thursday, according to analysts, after trading both sides earlier in the day, reported Reuters. 

Benchmark CME December live cattle futures settled down 1.300 cents at 186.400 cents per pound. CME November feeder cattle futures ended down 0.425 cent at 248.125 cents per pound. 

CME December lean hog futures lost 0.500 cent at 76.750 cents per pound, while nearby October hogs ended up 1.175 cents at 84.175 cents. 

Earlier support came from concerns with the export market stemming from the dock workers strike in the US, said Don Roose, founder of US Commodities. 

The US East Coast and Gulf Coast dockworkers are in the midst of their first large-scale strike in nearly 50 years.

The strike, which entered its third day on Thursday, halted the flow of about half the country’s ocean shipping and has impacted some beef and frozen seafood product imports, traders and industry members said.

“The longer it goes, the worse it is,” said Roose. 

“Like we say in the meat business – you either sell it or smell it,” he said. 

Wholesale choice beef prices also fell, adding pressure on cattle futures. The US Department of Agriculture priced choice cuts of boxed beef on Thursday at $299.49 per hundredweight (cwt), down 32 cents from Wednesday. Select cuts rose 55 cents, to $284.48 per cwt.