Chicago | Reuters — U.S. lean hog futures fell sharply on Monday, continuing a retreat from multi-year highs set earlier this month as cash pork prices dropped and worries increased about Chinese import demand for U.S. pork. Technical selling and profit-taking have sped the multi-session decline after the actively traded Chicago Mercantile Exchange August lean […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Hogs drop on weaker pork, falling prices in China
Live cattle down with cash beef prices; feeder cattle up as corn eases
U.S. livestock: Live cattle up on bargain-buying
CME lean hogs mostly lower; feeder cattle down on corn's bounce
Chicago | Reuters — U.S. live cattle futures firmed on bargain-buying on Friday after a steep plunge a day earlier, with expectations of steady to higher cash cattle prices next week adding support, traders said. “The market is chopping around but it looks like it needs to go back to the upside to price in […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Hogs limit down for second consecutive day
CME August cattle end lower
Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) lean hog futures fell by an exchange-imposed limit for a second consecutive session on Thursday as commodities declined broadly. Selling by index funds fueled losses in markets from hogs to cattle and corn, after the U.S. Federal Reserve signaled it might raise interest rates sooner than expected, […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Hogs limit down on new China stats
Live cattle futures up with cash values
Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) lean hog futures fell their daily three-U.S.-cent limit on Wednesday, pressured by falling U.S. wholesale prices for pork products and news of increasing hog numbers in China, traders said. China’s pig herd rose 23.5 per cent in May from a year earlier, state media said on Wednesday, […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Live cattle hit two-month high
CME lean hogs end mixed
Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) live cattle futures rose more than two per cent on Tuesday, setting a two-month high as deferred prices for corn, the main feed grain for cattle, continued to fall, traders said. CME benchmark August live cattle futures settled up 2.625 cents at 123.9 cents/lb. after reaching 124.125 […] Read more
U.S. ag secretary backs proposed meatpacking investigator
Reuters — U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Tuesday threw his support behind a proposal to establish a special investigator to address concerns about anti-competitive practices in the meat and poultry industries. Republican U.S. Senators Mike Rounds of South Dakota and Charles Grassley of Iowa and Democratic Senator Jon Tester of Montana have proposed legislation […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Cattle futures climb as corn prices cool
Lean hogs end lower
Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) live cattle futures rose on Monday, reaching a one-month top as falling prices for feed grains lifted feeder cattle futures, traders said. CME August live cattle futures settled up 1.25 cents at 121.275 cents/lb. after reaching 121.575 cents, the contract’s highest since May 13. August feeder cattle […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Cattle gain on strong packer margins
Profit-taking sinks hogs
Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) cattle futures firmed on Friday on strong beef plant margins and good demand from packers for fed cattle, traders said. Cash beef prices have flattened after a prolonged run higher, but packers continue to make a large profit on each animal slaughtered. “We’re probably seeing that our […] Read more
U.S. livestock: Lean hogs end mostly higher
Cattle futures advance
Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) lean hog futures were mostly higher on Thursday on elevated pork prices and strong demand, although profit-taking clipped some of the gains, traders said. Lightly traded June hog futures climbed to the highest for a spot month contract in nearly seven years. More actively traded nearby contracts […] Read more
JBS says it paid US$11 million in bitcoin for ransom
Cyberattack disrupted plants in North America, Australia
Reuters — Meatpacker JBS USA paid a ransom equivalent to US$11 million (C$13.3 million) following a cyberattack that disrupted its North American and Australian operations, the company’s CEO said in a statement Wednesday. The subsidiary of Brazilian firm JBS halted cattle slaughtering at all of its U.S. plants and its Alberta beef plant for a […] Read more