
Feeder cattle led the gainers on the final trading day of the week, gaining between 1.1% and 1.6% in contracts for the coming months. The week ended with a net profit of $3.87 for the March futures and $1.77 for the April futures. The Feb. 15 CME Cattle Index fell 35 cents to $244.58.
Block beef prices were mixed, according to the USDA , with Choice up 90 cents and Select down $1.33 on Friday afternoon. The USDA reported beef production for the week was 506.9 million pounds, with a slaughter volume of 608,000 HEAD. Production was down 2.5% for the week and 1.5% lower than the same week last year due to a 2.3% reduction in slaughter (down 2.7% from the same week last year ).
WEEKLY COST OF CUTTINGS CAT.CHOICE
CATTLE SALES
Sale of livestock, heads
Average weight
Week 6
Week 7
Weekly growth,%
Week 6
Week 7
Weekly growth,%
Bulls (live weight)
678
28 910
4164.0%
1,527
1 471
-3.7%
Heifers (live weight)
552
14,921
2603.1%
1 344
1 321
-1.7%
Steers (slaughter weight)
5 808
939
Heifers (slaughter weight)
1,646
829
WEEKLY WEIGHTED AVERAGE PRICE OF CALLS
BEEF PRODUCTION
Index
Week 7
Previous week
A year ago
Weekly growth,%
Growth over the year, %
Slaughter volume
608,000
622,000
625,000
-2.3%
-2.7%
Live weight
1 385
1 388
1 377
-0.2%
0.6%
Slaughter weight
835
838
825
-0.4%
1.2%
Beef production (million pounds)
506.9
519.9
514.4
-2.5%
-1.5%
CME: Live Cattle Futures
Week 6
Week 7
Weekly growth,%
February
184.63
184.78
0.1%
April
186.73
187.55
0.4%
June
183.98
182.83
-0.6%
Feeder cattle futures
March
247.15
251.03
1.6%
April
251.78
253.55
0.7%
May
255.68
255.65
0.0%
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