Chicago cattle and hog futures closed higher on Thursday.
Most-active February live cattle futures settled at 230.950 cents a pound, up 2.245 cents. April contracts closed up 2.300 cents at 230.675 cents per pound.
Most-active January feeder cattle contracts closed at 343.400 cents per pound, up 5.025 cents. March futures settled at 337.675 cents a pound, up 4.850 cents.
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The USDA reported choice boxed beef valued at $358.11 per cwt this afternoon, down $1.25 from Wednesday. Select boxed beef sank by $1.42 to $343.46 per cwt.
Wholesale beef prices have been in retreat this month, with meat cases largely stocked for the year-end holidays.
Meat packers’ profit margins have fallen back into the red, with packers losing $9.45 per head of cattle as of Wednesday, according to Denver-based livestock marketing advisory service HedgersEdge.com. Margins had briefly spiked above $100 per head in the first week of December.
Most-traded February lean hog futures closed at 84.175 per pound, up 1.750 cents. April contracts rose by 1.850 cents to 89.225 cents a pound.
Pork carcass cutout value was 98.84 per cwt, up $1.57, the USDA reported on Thursday afternoon.
“It looks like the seasonal break in cash hogs and pork is over, and now we will be evaluating lighter supplies in the weeks ahead,” Rich Nelson, chief strategist for Allendale, said on Wednesday.
-With files from Reuters
