cattle futures fell on Thursday as post-holiday beef demand faded, pulling August live cattle and August feeder cattle lower on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. The move hit benchmark contracts even as wholesale select beef edged higher, leaving traders to weigh softer seasonal demand against firmer cuts in parts of the cash market.
August live cattle at 235.25
CME August live cattle finished 2.375 cents lower at 235.25 cents per pound, while August feeder cattle settled 5.80 cents lower at 356.15 cents per pound. Those declines came after Rich Nelson of Allendale said, "The peak of grilling season has passed us," adding, "This is a time when consumers step back since the second half of summer is warmer and muggy."
USDA cuts beef sales
The US Department of Agriculture said wholesale choice cuts of beef were priced at $379.82 on Thursday, down $1.38 from the previous day, while wholesale select cuts rose $1.10 to $364.19 per hundredweight. The same report showed exporters sold a net 12,064 metric tons of US beef to foreign buyers, but that late-June figure was 90% lower than the volume the USDA originally reported a week earlier.
Hog market adds pressure
August lean hog futures also settled lower, down 1.50 cents at 98.15 cents per pound, even as the pork carcass cutout value rose 74 cents to $98.90. If warming temperatures in the US Midwest and Plains into mid-July reduce hog weights, cattle traders will still be left with the same near-term problem: beef demand has already softened after the grilling season, and the export revision has reduced one of the market's few supportive data points.
