Live cattle futures increased by 77 cents to $1.27 at the Thursday close, with open interest declining by 2,189 contracts. Cash trade in the South reported activity at $246, up $1 from the previous week. During the Thursday morning auction, 970 head were offered with bids between $244 and $244.50, but no sales occurred.
The USDA’s Export Sales report, for the week ending April 2, showed 17,408 MT of beef sold, notably with South Korea and Japan as the largest buyers at 6,100 MT each. However, shipments were at a four-week low of 13,321 MT, with South Korea receiving the highest volume at 4,600 MT. Federal cattle slaughter for Thursday was estimated at 105,000 head, bringing the weekly total to 425,000, which is down 4,000 from last week and 38,950 from the same week in the previous year.
