Feeder cattle prices led the way higher on Friday, ending up 1.7%. Despite the strong end to the week, March diners were still down $1.60 week/week. Fat cattle rallied $1.50 to $3.10 on the day, pushing the April contract to a net 55 cent gain for the week. August cattle futures remained at a net 30 cent loss for the week’s movement. USDA confirmed light Friday cash action near $183-$184, matching most of the week’s trade. The CME Feeder Cattle Index was 54 cents weaker on 2/28 to $246.26.
Weekly Commitment of Traders data showed that the managed money type traders held a 54,821 contract net long in cattle as of 2/27. That was 4.3k contract stronger net long by net new buying through the week. The funds also added new longs to feeder cattle, growing their net long by 1.8k contracts to 9,991.
USDA Boxed Beef prices were listed at $305.28 in Choice and $295.74 in Select on Friday afternoon. That was a $1.08 and $1.56 increase respectively. USDA reported that 496.9 million lbs. of beef was harvested from 599k cattle this week. Output was 1% higher versus the previous week on a 1% increase in slaughter, and output was 3.2% lower versus the same week last year at 4.3% lighter slaughter. YTD slaughter tracks last year by 5.3% with 5.357m head.
Apr 24 Oxen closed at $188,450, up $3,100,
Jun 24 Bulls closed at $184,000, up $2,775,
Aug 24 Oxen closed at $182,700, up $2,000,
March 24 Feeder Cattle closed at $252,975, up $3,975
Apr 24 Feeder Cattle closed at $258,000, up $4,275
As of 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 for informational purposes only. For more information, please see Barchart’s Disclosure Policy here.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.