Cattle See Modest Buying Ahead of Bull Friendly Cattle on Feed Report
Live cattle futures saw some steadier trade in the front months, down a dime to 12 cents higher, with other contracts up 15 to 47 cents. December was up $2.77 for the week. Cash trade was relatively slow this week. The Friday Fed Cattle Exchange online auction showed sales one lot at $230, with other bids of $226-228, as one dressed lot was sold at $355. Feeder cattle futures was $1.05 to $2.22 higher across the board on Friday, with a weekly gain of $6.22. The CME Feeder Cattle Index was up $1.52 on October 22 to $345.09.
Managed money held a net long position of 51,143 contracts as of Tuesday in live cattle futures and options, an increase of 2,395 contracts on the week mainly via a drop in short interest. CFTC data showed speculators in feeder cattle futures and options adding 1592 contracts to their net long position as of October 20th to 10,444 contracts.
The monthly NASS Cattle on Feed report showed September placements 12.07% from a year ago at 1.777 million head. That was well below estimates and a record low for the month. Marketings were down 6.62% at 1.52 million head. October 1 on feed inventory was 11.372 million, down 0.4% yr/yr and compared to estimate of up 0.3%.
The monthly NASS Cold Storage report indicated 400 million lbs of beef stocks at the end of September. That was a 1.25% draw from August and down 0.73% from a year ago.
Wholesale Boxed Beef prices were mixed in the Friday PM report, with the Chc/Sel at $13.10. Choice boxes were down $3.68 to $365.79, with Select back up $2.28 to $352.69. USDA estimated Federally inspected cattle slaughter for this week at 546 head including Saturday. That was down 7,000 head from the week prior and 27,166 head below the same week last year.
Oct 26 Live Cattle closed at $229.875, up $0.125,
Dec 26 Live Cattle closed at $231.125, unch,
Feb 27 Live Cattle closed at $233.350, down $0.100,
Oct 26 Feeder Cattle closed at $348.325, up $2.225,
Nov 26 Feeder Cattle closed at $348.125, up $1.200,
Jan 27 Feeder Cattle closed at $345.350, up $1.350,
On the date of publication, Austin Schroeder 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 solely for informational purposes. For more information please view the Barchart Disclosure Policy here.