Chicago | Reuters—Chicago Mercantile Exchange lean hog futures ended lower on profit taking and technical selling on Monday, brokers said.
Profit-taking also pressured live cattle futures at the CME.
The hog market pulled back after setting contract highs last week on solid demand for U.S. pork and tighter-than-expected hog supplies.
“Hogs were certainly overbought,” said Matt Wiegand, commodity broker for risk management firm FuturesOne in Nebraska.
CME December lean hog futures LHZ24 slid 0.85 cents to close at 83.225 cents per pound.
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Wholesale cutout values eased for U.S. pork bellies and hams, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said. The pork carcass cutout was nearly unchanged, as loin values increased.
In Canada, the BC Maritime Employers Association said it would lock out workers at Canada’s Port of Vancouver after a negotiating deadline passed, potentially disrupting exports of meat and other goods.
A lengthy work stoppage at Vancouver could open an opportunity for the U.S. to sell more chilled pork to Japan, as the U.S. and Canada compete for global export business, the U.S. Meat Export Federation said. The disruption could also prompt shippers to truck more Canadian meat south of the border into the U.S. market, though.
In CME’s cattle futures, December live cattle LCZ24 ended down 0.85 cent at 185.075 cents per pound. The market has declined since climbing on Tuesday to its highest price since March.
CME November feeder cattle futures FCX24 closed 0.525 cent lower at 246.350 cents per pound.
The choice boxed beef cutout rose $0.57 to $316.91 per hundredweight, while select boxed beef prices jumped $2.13 to $287.16 per cwt, the USDA said.
Profit margins for beef processors fell to $1.70 per head of cattle from $8 per head on Friday and $58.40 per head a week ago, according to livestock marketing advisory service HedgersEdge.com.
