US: Cattle Market Review Week 3, January 20, 2025

Tight cattle supplies and unseasonably high beef prices continue to support the market, but commodity funds are already taking a significant bullish position in live cattle futures, slowing this week's uptrend.

Trading was choppy on Friday as market participants awaited cues on U.S. trade policy under the new Trump administration. CME live cattle futures for February rose 150 cents to settle at 196.750 cents a pound, while the April contract fell 175 cents to settle at 197.500 cents. Both contracts remained below long-term highs set last week.

CME March feeder cattle futures ended Friday up 0.325 cent at 268.050 cents a pound.

"It looks like there's just a little bit of profit taking here amid the tariff questions," said Rich Nelson, chief strategist at Allendale Inc.

Traders were also waiting for clues about when the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) might resume importing cattle from Mexico, Nelson said. The USDA blocked shipments in November after the discovery of the beef pest in Mexico.New World flies .

Wholesale beef prices held near their highest levels since June 2023. The USDA Choice Cuts Boxed Beef Index rose 28 cents Friday afternoon to $333.69 per hundredweight, slightly below Wednesday's 19-month peak of $334.14.

WEEKLY COST OF CUT OUT CAT.CHOICE

CATTLE SALES

Sale of cattle, heads

Average weight

Week 2

Week 3

Growth per week,%

Week 2

Week 3

Growth per week,%

Bulls (live weight)

20 415

23 221

13.7%

1,537

1,530

-0.5%

Heifers (live weight)

7 731

11 395

47.4%

1 344

1 379

2.6%

Bulls (slaughter weight)

7 438

8 643

16.2%

991

996

0.5%

Heifers (slaughter weight)

1 098

1 319

20.1%

830

848

2.2%

WEEKLY WEIGHTED AVERAGE BULL PRICE

BEEF PRODUCTION                                                                     

Indicator

Week 3

Previous week

A year ago

Growth per week,%

Growth per year, %

Volume of cattle slaughter

603,000

589,000

605,000

2.4%

-0.3%

Live weight

1 441

1,435

1 384

0.4%

4.1%

Slaughter weight

876

872

842

0.5%

4.0%

Beef Production (million pounds)

527,0

512.1

508.4

2.9%

3.7%

CME: Live Cattle Futures

Week 2

Week 3

Growth per week,%

February

198.78

196.75

-1.0%

April

199.48

197.50

-1.0%

June

194.10

192.20

-1.0%

CME: Feeder Cattle Futures

January

272.35

273.50

0.4%

March

269.40

268.05

-0.5%

April

270.18

268.13

-0.8%

You can learn more about the state of the cattle market in the usa (cattle prices, cost of beef by category, production dynamics) in the weekly reviews of the MEAT market in RUSSIA and in the world from Meatinfo.ru. Weekly reviews are available as part of a subscription.