Cattle futures firm as tight supply lifts beef markets - CME
Hog prices edge higher as pork demand faces global pressure
17 December 2025
1 minute read
By: Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) cattle futures turned higher on Tuesday, supported by technical trading, strength in the cash market, and rising wholesale beef prices, Reuters reported, citing market analysts.
Weakness in the grains market also gave feeder cattle futures some strength on the day, said Don Roose, president of Iowa-based US Commodities.
Given that the US cattle herd has shown few signs of expanding, after dropping to its lowest level in decades and sending cattle and beef prices soaring, traders have started to question when consumers will start choosing cheaper cuts of pork and chicken at the grocery store - rather than pricier beef cuts, Roose said.
The uncertainty comes amid news that US unemployment in November was higher than analyst expectations, driven largely by the loss of government positions, traders and market analysts said. However, traders said, the impact of that unemployment data was somewhat capped because the government shutdown prevented data collection for the October jobless rate.
Still, Roose said, "we keep losing government jobs, and eventually, that has to have a ripple effect."
CME February live cattle settled up 0.150 cent at 230.700 cents per pound after a somewhat rangebound trading day. January feeder cattle ended up 3.400 cents at 343.325 cents per pound.
Wholesale beef prices firmed. On Tuesday morning, the US Department of Agriculture priced choice cuts of beef at $360.24 per hundredweight (cwt), up 78 cents from Monday. Select cuts rose $1.73 to $349.03 per cwt.
Meanwhile, lean hog futures also firmed on technical trading and recent strength in the cash hog values, as livestock traders moved past negative trade news, analysts said. CME benchmark February lean hog futures settled up 0.925 cent at 84.775 cents per pound.
China on Tuesday sharply reduced tariffs on European Union pork imports worth over $2 billion in the final ruling of an anti-dumping investigation seen as a response to the bloc's duties on Chinese electric vehicles. Home to half the world's pigs, China's massive hog sector is grappling with a supply glut amid weak consumer demand. Chinese pork prices have been falling throughout 2025 and are expected to continue their decline.
The US Department of Agriculture priced pork carcasses on Tuesday morning at $98.42 per cwt, down 47 cents from Monday. And while pork belly cutout values slumped, hams - which tend to be in demand from consumers during the Christmas holiday - jumped $5.41 to $103.03 per cwt.
