Chicago | Reuters—Chicago Mercantile Exchange feeder cattle futures extended gains to record highs on Wednesday while live cattle futures set a contract high before pulling back.
Strong demand for U.S. beef and tight domestic supplies of cattle continued to underpin the markets.
Recent gains have stoked expectations that cash prices will rise this week, traders said, after many had recently been expecting a decline.
CME August live cattle futures reached a contract high of 220.800 cents per pound before backpedaling to close down 0.2 cent at 219.775 cents per pound.
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August feeder cattle ended up 1.35 cents at 320.475 cents per pound and earlier set a contract high at 321 cents. That was a record for a front-month contract FCc1 on a continuation chart.
U.S. wholesale boxed beef prices tumbled after jumping on Tuesday. Choice cuts dropped by $6.59 to $386.45 per hundredweight (cwt), according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture data.
After trading ended, President Donald Trump said his administration will charge Brazil with a 50 per cent tariff on products sent to the United States starting on August 1.
The United States has increasingly relied on imports of lean beef from Brazil and other nations to make hamburgers as the U.S. cattle herd has dwindled to its smallest size in decades. Beef imports from Brazil rose 119 per cent to 175,063 metric tons from January to May, compared to a year earlier, according to the latest available USDA data.
U.S. beef production has declined and prices have climbed after years of drought reduced the amount of grazing land available for cattle, prompting farmers to slash their herds.
U.S. meatpackers slaughtered an estimated 117,000 cattle on Wednesday, down from 122,000 cattle a week ago and 121,751 cattle a year ago, USDA data show.
By contrast, processors slaughtered 478,000 hogs, up from 473,000 hogs a week ago and 475,311 hogs a year earlier.
CME August lean hogs LHQ25 ended up 0.45 cent at 107.225 cents per pound after falling to a one-month low this week.
