Live, feeder cattle futures end lower - CME

Lean hogs extend recovery from recent slide
calendar icon 18 May 2022
clock icon 2 minute read

Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) lean hog futures rose for a third consecutive session on Tuesday as the market continued to recover from oversold conditions, reported Reuters, citing traders.

Live cattle and feeder cattle futures ended lower.

Short-covering helped propel hog futures higher following recent declines, said Matt Wiegand, commodity broker for FuturesOne. The market last week fell to its lowest prices since January.

"We got oversold to the bottom side," Wiegand said.

CME June lean hogs ended up 1.325 cents at 105.150 cents per pound. July lean hogs finished 2.950 cents higher at 107.750 cents per pound. Both contracts touched their highest prices since 6 May.

Demand for hogs from pork processors helped support the gains, Wiegand said.

Meatpackers slaughtered an estimated 477,000 hogs, up from 467,000 hogs a year ago, according to the US Department of Agriculture. Packers slaughtered an estimated 125,000 cattle, compared with 120,000 a year ago.

In other news, China will buy 40,000 tonnes of local frozen pork for its state reserves on 20 May, according to a notice on the website of the reserves management centre. The country, which is the world's top pork consumer and producer, is buying supplies to support prices.

In CME cattle markets, nearby June live cattle futures sagged 0.175 cent to close at 133.00 cents per pound. Most-active August live cattle lost 0.425 cent to end at 133.475 cents per pound.

August feeder cattle ended down 0.650 cent at 166.775 cents per pound. High prices for corn, used to feed livestock, continue to hang over the market, traders said.

"There's just not a lot of buying enthusiasm," Wiegand said.

Source: Reuters

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