Live Cattle Futures Decline Amid Mixed Market Signals
Cash trading begins quietly with early sales reported
Live cattle futures have dipped between $1.20 and $1.90 at midday. The cash trade kicked off this week with light activity, recording sales at $201 in the South and $205 in the North East. During Thursday morning’s Central Stockyards Fed Cattle Exchange online auction, two lots sold for $201. Meanwhile, feeder cattle futures faced a decline of $1.92 to $2.325 as trading continued. The CME Feeder Cattle Index decreased by 27 cents from the previous day, settling at $278.04 on January 14.
Export sales data highlights overseas demand
The Weekly Export Sales report revealed a total of 9,732 MT of beef sold for 2025 deliveries in the week ending January 9. Japan led the charge as the largest buyer with 3,600 MT, followed closely by China with 3,500 MT. Export shipments reached a three-week high at 14,640 MT, with Japan again taking the top spot at 3,800 MT, and South Korea following with 3,600 MT.
Mixed results in wholesale beef prices
USDA’s Thursday morning report showed mixed results for wholesale Boxed Beef prices. The Choice/Select spread tightened, reaching $14.10. Choice boxes saw a drop of 95 cents to $333.19/cwt, while Select boxes increased by $1.05 to $319.09. As for the cattle slaughter estimates provided by USDA for Wednesday, a total of 124,000 head were processed, making the weekly total 366,000 head. This figure is an increase of 9,000 head compared to last week and up 32,738 head from the same week last year.
February 2025 Live Cattle are currently priced at $196.625, down $1.900.
April 2025 Live Cattle are recorded at $197.675, down $1.650.
June 2025 Live Cattle are at $192.200, down $1.250.
January 2025 Feeder Cattle are priced at $273.300, down $1.925.
March 2025 Feeder Cattle are at $267.475, down $2.325.
April 2025 Feeder Cattle are recorded at $267.925, down $2.200.
On the date of publication, Austin Schroeder did not hold (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article are provided solely for informational purposes. For additional details, please view the Barchart Disclosure Policy here.
The views and opinions expressed herein are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
