Live cattle futures exhibited steady trading on Friday, remaining within 15 cents of unchanged. Cash trade prices were reported at $372 dressed, with live sales between $235 and $236. The Fed Cattle Exchange auction on Thursday saw sales of $235-$236 for 183 of the 762 heads offered. Feeder cattle futures reflected losses ranging from 35 cents to $1.57 in the front months, while the CME Feeder Cattle Index decreased by $3.83 to $360.97 on March 11.
In addition, the weekly APHIS update indicated nine new cases of New World Screwworm in Mexico’s Tamaulipas, elevating the total to 23 active cases. Export Sales data revealed that 25,443 MT of beef were sold during the week ending March 5, the highest since February 2023, with South Korea accounting for 11,600 MT and Japan for 5,900 MT. However, beef shipments hit a calendar year low at 11,427 MT.
Wholesale Boxed Beef prices showed an increase, with Choice boxes rising 16 cents to $397.25 and Select boxes up 4 cents to $390.86. USDA estimated the federally inspected cattle slaughter at 108,000 head for Thursday, totaling 425,000 head for the week thus far—a decrease of 8,000 head from the previous week and 57,938 head lower than the same week last year.
