The live cattle futures market was 5 to 42 cents weaker on Friday with dec expiring at $173.67. The new lead month Feb contract finished the week with a net 2 cent gain, and the month with a net $3.32 loss. Nearby feeder cattle closed the Friday session 2 to 17 cents lower. That left the Jan contract at a net 45c loss for the week and a net monthly gain of $2.35. USDA confirmed 13.4k head of cash cattle trades for Thursday, with the bulk near $172 (up $1-$2 for the week). The CME Feeder Cattle Index for was $1.73 weaker for 12/28 to $215.98.
Weekly Export Sales data had just 2,138 MT of beef booked for the week that ended 12/21. That was a 3-wk low and left the full year’s commitments at 847.8k MT- a 27% decrease for the year.
USDA’s Wholesale Boxed Beef price for Friday read $289.71 for Choice and $260.33 for Select. That was a $1.57 decrease for Choice and a $1.09 increase for Select. The quotes ended the 2023 year with a $2.76 stronger Choice quote after a $78.35 range, and a $5.70 stronger Select price after a $60.41 range. The week’s Red Meat Summary showed beef production was 429.4m lbs for the week, compared to 443.8 million during the same week last year. The 2023 total was reported at 26.55 billion lbs, a 4.6% drop from the same week last year. Slaughter for the week was 508k head, compared to 535k head last year. That left the yearly total at 32.243 million head – down 4.2%.
Dec 23 Cattle closed at $173.675, up $2.475,
Feb 24 Cattle closed at $168.500, down $0.425,
Apr 24 Cattle closed at $172.250, down $0.025,
Jan 24 Feeder Cattle closed at $222.300, down $0.175
Mar 24 Feeder Cattle closed at $223.100, down $0.025
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