Live cattle futures strengthen – CME

Lean hog futures retreat

Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) lean hog futures backpedaled on Thursday from a one-week high reached during the previous session, while live cattle futures strengthened, reported Reuters. 

Hog futures eased after wholesale US pork prices pulled back from a jump on Tuesday. 

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) priced the pork carcass cutout at $97.02 per hundredweight (cwt), down $6.63 from late on Tuesday. Pork bellies fell by $5.54 per cwt, after tumbling by more than $19 per cwt on Wednesday.

CME July hogs settled down 0.925 cents at 92.775 cents per pound.

Ample US supplies have weighed on the hog market, which slumped to a five-month low last week. Average hog weights were 289 pounds in the week ended June 8, down slightly from a week earlier but up from 279.9 pounds a year ago, according to USDA data.

The USDA on Thursday reported net US pork export sales for 2024 were 30,100 metric tons in the week ended June 6, down 1% from the prior four-week average. For beef, weekly US export sales of 12,000 metric tons for 2024 were down 28% from the prior four-week average.

Boxed beef prices inched higher, though, with choice cuts priced at $318.31 per cwt, up 71 cents from Wednesday, and select cuts up 32 cents at $299.25 per cwt.

CME August live cattle settled up 1.175 cents at 179.5 cents per pound. CME August feeder cattle ended down 0.100 cent at 257.475 cents per pound.