**Cattle Market Update**
On Friday, live cattle futures experienced mixed results, closing at $249.30 for June, up $0.15, but down $4.60 for the week. Cash trade this week ranged from $260 to $265, with late sales declining to $258-260. Feeder cattle futures fell significantly, with August down $11.60 over the week, closing at $349.85. The CME Feeder Cattle Index decreased by $1.72 to $370.72 on May 20, and the CME will be closed on Monday for Memorial Day.
According to the USDA’s Cattle on Feed report, April placements totaled 1.702 million head, a 5.52% increase from last year, exceeding estimates. However, marketings were down 10.03% year-over-year at 1.642 million head. The May 1 on feed inventory was 11.584 million head, up 1.83% compared to last year. Additionally, the USDA estimated this week’s federally inspected cattle slaughter at 528,000 head, lower than the previous week and significantly below last year by 48,278 head.
Key data points include:
– April 30 beef stocks: 408.34 million lbs, down 2.6% from last year.
– CFTC data revealed a reduction of 773 contracts in net long live cattle futures, totaling 130,113 contracts. In contrast, feeder cattle futures saw an increase of 1,194 contracts to a net long of 16,380 contracts.
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