Chicago | Reuters – Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures edged lower on Monday, under pressure from weaker trades in U.S. Plains cash cattle markets that occurred after futures markets closed late on Friday, traders and analysts said.
Feeder cattle futures also eased, tracking declines in the more actively traded live cattle market, while lean hog futures were mixed.
CME August live cattle finished 0.200 cent to 108.425 cents per pound and most-active October cattle shed 0.675 cent to 109.800 cents.
Futures remained slightly discounted to the cash market, with slaughter-ready cattle fetching $112 per cwt in Texas, Kansas and Nebraska on Friday, in deals that were about $1 per cwt lower than the previous week, feedlot sources said.
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CME August feeder cattle were down 0.800 cent to 151.500 cents per pound.
In the hog market, the front-month August contract fell to a lifetime low of 63.200 cents per pound before settling at 63.300 cents, down 0.350 cent.
All deferred contracts were narrowly higher, with most-active October hogs gained 0.350 cent to 51.225 cents.
“Hogs just keep trading heavy supply and tariff worries,” said Scott Varilek, a broker at Kooima and Kaemingk Commodities Inc.
Tariffs on U.S. pork in Mexico and China were threatening future export demand, weighing on prices for hogs after U.S. Department of Agriculture data a month ago showed a nearly record-large U.S. hog herd.
USDA said cash hog prices on Monday in the top cash market of Iowa and southern Minnesota were down $1.69 to $61.01 per cwt.
Wholesale pork prices dropped $2.43 to $74.54 per cwt and choice-grade beef was down 42 cents to $204.72 per cwt.
