Markets: Cattle Lower as Fundamentals Weaken
All classes of cattle saw price decline as the calendar turned to December. Cash fed cattle prices have rolled back $10 per cwt. since the end of October.
Market-ready cattle traded in the North last week at $174 to $175 per cwt. live, $2 to $3 per cwt. lower, and $275 per cwt. dressed, $4 per cwt. lower. The South saw moderate trade at $174 to $175 per cwt., also $2 to $3 lower than the previous week.
Feeder cattle traded mostly $7 per cwt. lower, with instances of $1 higher. Calves sold $1 to $5 per cwt. lower.
At the CME, February live cattle futures fell $2.70 on Friday to $169.125, near the session low and on the week lost $1.85. January feeder cattle futures dropped $5.525 Friday to $214.425, near the daily low and for the week down $4.90.
Wholesale beef prices also printed losses for the week. Choice boxed beef closed Friday at $297.46 per cwt., down $0.57 for the week. Select boxed beef sold Friday at $265.49 per cwt., which was $3.27 per cwt. lower.
Estimated weekly cattle slaughter was 635,000 head, down 25,000 from the same week a year ago. Year-to-date slaughter was estimated at 29,828 million head, down 4.7% from last year.
The Choice-Select grades spread, which was $32.11 at midday Friday, remains historically wide at present, suggesting still-tight supplies of market-ready cattle in the feedlots. However, the latest reading for steer dressed weights showed that after stalling around 927 pounds for the prior four weeks, the reading for the week ended Nov. 11 rose to 931 pounds per head--matching the all-time high reached one year ago. Thursday’s reading for the week ended Nov. 18 rose another five pounds to 936 pounds per head. That suggests feedlot marketings are not as current as previously expected.
