Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange hog futures sank to contract lows on Monday, with the market under pressure from plentiful supplies and weak demand for pork at grocery stores and on the export market.
“The story remains one of a slow-to-move product market,” brokerage StoneX said in a note to clients.
Cattle futures also were weaker as traders digested news from Friday about a new BSE finding.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced on Friday an atypical case of BSE in an older beef cow at a slaughter plant in South Carolina. USDA said the animal never entered slaughter channels and the agency did not expect any trade impacts as a result.
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CME June live cattle settled down 0.675 cent at 165.05 cents/lb., while the most-active August contract was 0.7 cent lower at 163.6 cents (all figures US$).
CME August feeder cattle dropped 0.2 cent to finish at 234.9 cents/lb.
CME lean hogs for June delivery hogs dropped 1.2 cents, to 81.825 cents/lb. The most-active July contract fell 0.975 cent to end at 82.15 cents.
— Mark Weinraub is a Reuters commodities correspondent in Chicago.
