Although there were too few transactions to trend, a few live sales were reported in the western Corn Belt on Thursday at $120-$121/cwt. and a few in the beef at $190-$192. On a live basis, that was $2-$3 more than the top end of last week’s prices in the region; $9-$10 more in the beef.
Cattle futures closed lower on Thursday—arguably more of a breather from the recent rally than anything else. Queasiness about-near term demand and where prices can go from here also limited trade.
After $2.27 and $1.30 lower in the front two contracts, Live Cattle futures closed an average of 17¢ lower (5¢ to 50¢ lower).
Feeder Cattle futures closed an average of $1.50 lower ($1.15 to $2.42 lower).
Choice boxed beef cutout value was 86¢ higher Thursday afternoon at $208.25/cwt. Select was 55¢ lower at $193.16.
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Major U.S. financial indices closed mostly narrowly higher on Thursday as investors sorted through a variety of news, including: details on the Republican tax-reform proposal; earnings reports; President Trump naming Jerome Powell as successor to Janet Yellen as chair of the Federal Reserve.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 81 points higher. The S&P 500 closed fractionally higher. The NASDAQ closed 1 point lower.
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Although robust growth in U.S. beef exports this year is partly due to increased global beef demand, it also reflects growing market share by the U.S. in international markets.
As an example, the U.S. market share of imported beef to Japan grew from 33% in 2013 to 42% currently. In South Korea it’s grown from 34% to 45%. Joel Haggard, U.S. Meat Export Federation senior vice president for the Asia-Pacific region shared that insight during a media call last week.