Feeder cattle prices led the way higher on Friday, ending up by as much as 1.7%. Despite the strong finish to the week, March feeders were still down $1.60 wk/wk. 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 move. USDA confirmed light Friday cash action near $183-$184, matching the bulk of the week’s business. The CME Feeder Cattle Index was 54 cents weaker on 2/28 to $246.26.
Weekly Commitment of Traders data showed the managed money spec traders held a 54,821 contract net long in cattle as of 2/27. That was a 4.3k contract stronger net long via net new buying through the week. The funds were also adding new longs to feeder cattle, growing their net long by 1.8k contracts to 9,991.
USDA’s Boxed Beef prices were listed at $305.28 in Choice and $295.74 in Select on Friday afternoon. That was a $1.08 and a $1.56 increase respectively. USDA reported 496.9 million lbs of beef was harvested from 599k head of cattle this week. Output was 1% higher vs the week prior on a 1% increase in slaughter, and output was 3.2% lower vs the same week last year on a 4.3% lighter slaughter. YTD slaughter trails last year by 5.3% with 5.357m head.
Apr 24 Cattle closed at $188.450, up $3.100,
Jun 24 Cattle closed at $184.000, up $2.775,
Aug 24 Cattle closed at $182.700, up $2.000,
Mar 24 Feeder Cattle closed at $252.975, up $3.975
Apr 24 Feeder Cattle closed at $258.000, up $4.275
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