Cattle Futures Rise on Signs of Meatpacker Demand
April 3 (Bloomberg) -- Cattle futures climbed for the first time in three days on signs of increasing demand from U.S. meat processors. Hog prices also rose.
Meatpackers processed 347,000 head of cattle in the first three days of the week, up 0.3 percent from a week earlier, U.S. Department of Agriculture data show. Spot steers averaged $1.25 a pound, up 2.4 percent from a year earlier, according to the agency.
"Packers are needing some cattle," Lane Broadbent, a vice president at KIS Futures Inc. in Oklahoma City, said in a telephone interview. The number of animals being offered for slaughter "is still tight enough that they are having to hustle to get cattle for their kill needs."
Cattle futures for June delivery climbed 0.3 percent to settle at $1.232 a pound at 1 p.m. on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. The price, down 1.2 percent in the previous two days, has declined 6.9 percent this year.
Feeder-cattle futures for May settlement fell 0.4 percent to $1.46575 a pound.
Hog futures for June settlement rose 0.7 percent to 92.475 cents a pound. The price has gained 7.9 percent this year.
--Editors: Patrick McKiernan, Thomas Galatola
To contact the reporter on this story: Elizabeth Campbell in Chicago at ecampbell14@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Steve Stroth at sstroth@bloomberg.net
