On Thursday, live cattle futures increased between 90 cents and $1.60, while feeder cattle futures rose by $3.67 to $4.85. The Fed Cattle Exchange online auction had no sales or bids for 974 head offered. This week’s cash trade still lags, starting at $232-233 from the previous week.
In export sales, beef bookings were recorded at 11,192 metric tons during the week of January 8, with South Korea leading as the largest buyer at 3,800 MT, followed by Japan at 2,000 MT. Meanwhile, USDA reported a Thursday cattle slaughter estimate of 117,000 head, totaling 469,000 for the week, 4,000 above last week but 15,813 below the same time last year.
USDA Wholesale Boxed Beef prices also rose, with Choice boxes up $2.24 to $360.77 and Select boxes increasing by $2.06 to $359.71. The Chc/Sel spread widened to $1.06.
