USA: Cattle market review for week 5 of February 5, 2024

CME April live cattle futures rose 0.575 cent to 183.750 cents a pound after hitting 184.300 cents, their highest level since November 7. March cattle futures closed down 0.075 cents at 244.800 cents a pound, easing profit-taking after rising to 246.125 cents, its highest level since October 20.

Market-ready cattle were trading at about $178 per cwt in Texas cash markets this week and at $179 in Kansas, up $3 to $4 from the bulk of last week's trading. Analysts said the higher prices reflected the impact of cold winter weather in mid-January, which led to lower cattle weights .

Traders continue to weigh Wednesday's cattle inventory report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), which said the total U.S. cattle population was 87.2 million HEAD as of Jan. 1, down 2 percent. a year earlier, and is the lowest level since 1951.

The report was roughly in line with market expectations and reflected the effects of years of drought on the Plains, which prompted ranchers to reduce their herds as they grappled with shrinking grazing acreage and higher feed costs.

WEEKLY COST OF CUTTINGS CAT.CHOICE

CATTLE SALES

Sale of livestock, heads

Average weight

Week 4

Week 5

Weekly growth,%

Week 4

Week 5

Weekly growth,%

Bulls (live weight)

28 825

6,276

-78.2%

1 493

1 475

-1.2%

Heifers (live weight)

14 313

10,584

-26.1%

1 314

1 297

-1.3%

Steers (slaughter weight)

7 371

8 680

17.8%

962

938

-2.5%

Heifers (slaughter weight)

1,514

2 661

75.8%

844

846

0.2%

WEEKLY WEIGHTED AVERAGE PRICE OF CALLS

BEEF PRODUCTION

Index

Week 5

Previous week

A year ago

Weekly growth,%

Growth over the year, %

Slaughter volume

637,000

618,000

637,000

3.1%

0.0%

Live weight

1 397

1 406

1 378

-0.6%

1.4%

Slaughter weight

845

847

828

-0.2%

2.1%

Beef production (million pounds)

536.8

522.5

526.7

2.7%

1.9%

CME: Live Cattle Futures

Week 4

Week 5

Weekly growth,%

February

178.45

180.55

1.2%

April

181.68

183.75

1.1%

June

178.85

181.78

1.6%

Feeder cattle futures

March

245.60

244.80

-0.3%

April

251.18

250.20

-0.4%

May

256.80

255.28

-0.6%

You can find out more about the state of the cattle market in the usa (livestock prices, the 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 for free as part of a subscription to monthly meat analytics Russian markets.