Cattle futures crumbled Tuesday with early cash trade taking another step lower, the packers seeming ability to pull dollars off the market by restricting kills and question marks about a seasonal peak for wholesale beef prices.
Feeder Cattle futures closed an average of $3.90 lower ($3.75 to $4.08 lower).
Live Cattle futures closed an average of $1.76 lower ($1.75 to $1.97 lower).
Negotiated cash fed cattle trade was moderate on moderate demand in the Southern Plains through Tuesday afternoon, according to the agricultural Marketing Service. Prices were $1 lower at $172/cwt.
Although too few transactions to trend, there were some early live sales in Nebraska at $281 and a few live sales in the western Corn Belt at $172-$178.
Live prices last week were $178-$180 in Nebraska and $180 in the western Corn Belt. Dressed prices were $283-$286 in Nebraska and $285 in the western Corn Belt.
Choice boxed beef cutout value was 78¢ lower Tuesday afternoon at $309.24/cwt. Select was $2.34 lower at $288.66/cwt.
Corn futures closed mostly 1¢ to 5¢ lower.
KC HRW Wheat closed 16¢ to 20¢ lower through Sep ‘24, and then mostly 8 to 9¢ lower.
Soybean futures closed 7¢ to 16¢ lower through Jan’24.
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Major U.S. financial indices closed lower Tuesday on fears arising from First Republic Bank’s collapse.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 367 points lower. The S&P 500 closed 48 points lower. The NASDAQ was down 132 points.
West Texas Intermediate Crude Oil futures (CME) closed $3.59 to $4.00 lower through the front six contracts.
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“Global beef production is projected to increase slightly in 2023 with decreased production in the U.S., the largest beef producing country, but continued growth in beef production in Brazil, the number two beef producer as well as number three China.,” says Derrell Peel, Extension livestock marketing specialist at Oklahoma State University, in his weekly market comments.
Based on the most recent Livestock and Poultry: World Markets and Trade report from the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service, Peel explains, total beef consumption is forecast to decrease in the U.S., the largest beef consuming nation.
“China/Hong Kong is the second largest beef consuming region with continued growth in beef consumption projected in 2023,” Peel says. “Brazil and the E.U. are the third and fourth largest beef consuming countries, both expected to have slight growth in beef consumption this year. The top four beef consuming nations are projected to account for 65% of global beef consumption. India is the number five beef consuming country, followed by Argentina and Mexico.”