Cattle futures continued higher Thursday with ongoing bullish fundamentals and expectations of steady to higher cash trade, given cattle feeders’ recent marketing resolve.
Feeder Cattle futures closed an average of $1.10 higher.
Live Cattle futures an average of 81¢ higher.
Negotiated cash fed cattle trade and demand ranged from slow on light to moderate demand to a standstill through Thursday afternoon, according to the Agricultural Marketing Service.
Although there were too few transactions to trend in any region, there were some early FOB live trades in the western Corn Belt at $188-$189/cwt and a few in Kansas at $186.
Last week, FOB live prices were $180/cwt. in the Southern Plains and $188 in Nebraska and the western Corn Belt. Dressed prices were $295 in a light test.
Choice boxed beef cutout value was $1.49 lower Thursday afternoon at $302.03/cwt. Select was 97¢ lower at $277.80/cwt.
Net U.S. beef export sales (2023) for the week ending Aug. 3 of 14,800 metric tons were 19% more than the previous week, but 8% less than the prior four-week average. Increases were primarily for South Korea, Japan, China, Mexico and Hong Kong, according to the weekly U.S. Export Sales report.
As for the other side of the ledger, Grain and Soybean futures firmed Thursday with likely positioning ahead of Friday’s widely anticipated World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates, with forecast yields top of mind for many.
Corn futures closed mostly fractionally higher to 2¢ higher.
KC HRW Wheat closed 3¢ to 5¢ higher.
Soybean futures closed 8¢ to 10¢ higher, except for old-crop contracts.
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Although gains faded by the end of the session, major U.S. financial indices edged higher Thursday, supported by slightly cooler inflation than expected. The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers rose 0.2% in July on a seasonally adjusted basis, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Over the last 12 months, the all items index increased 3.2% before seasonal adjustment.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 52 points higher. The S&P 500 closed 1 point higher. The NASDAQ was up 15 points.
West Texas Intermediate Crude Oil futures (CME) closed 99¢ to $1.58 lower through the front six contracts.
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U.S. beef exports in June continued to trend lower year over year but with hints of renewed strength.
Beef exports totaled 115,107 metric tons (mt) in June, down 12% from a year ago and slightly below the May volume, according to data released by USDA and compiled by the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF). June export value was $909.5 million, down 13% year-over-year but the highest since October and 4% above the value posted in May.
For January-June, U.S. beef exports were 10% below last year’s record pace at 669,176 mt. Export value was just under $5 billion – down 19% from a year ago but still 8% above the first half of 2021.
Beef export value equated to $407.12 per head of fed slaughter in June, down 9% from a year ago. The first-half average was $394.39, down 17%.
“It was a challenging first half for beef exports, especially when compared to the blistering pace established a year ago,” says Dan Halstrom, USMEF president and CEO. “But we are encouraged to see that exports are still accounting for a consistently high percentage of total beef production, and variety meat exports have held up very well considering the decline in U.S. slaughter. These metrics continue to illustrate the important contribution of exports in maximizing beef carcass value.”
June beef exports to Taiwan were the largest in 14 months, while exports to Mexico continued to build momentum and shipments to Canada, Hong Kong, South Africa and the Dominican Republic posted year-over-year gains. June exports to South Korea, China and Japan were below last year’s large totals, though shipments to Japan improved notably in value from the previous month.
June pork exports totaled 245,964 metric tons (mt), up 12% from a year ago, while export value climbed 6% to $691.4 million. Through the first half of 2023, exports were 14% above last year’s pace at 1.47 million mt, valued at $4.05 billion (up 12%).