Live cattle futures closed lower on Thursday, with prices down between 12 to 72 cents. Cash trade for cattle reached $232 this week amid low volumes. Notably, there were no sales in the Wednesday Fed Cattle Exchange auction for the 1,228 head offered, where bids were placed between $230 and $230.50. Feeder cattle futures fell by 50 cents for January contracts, contributing to a downward trend as the CME Feeder Cattle Index declined by $2.18 to $365.23.
The USDA’s Boxed Beef report indicated mixed results, with Choice boxes rising by $1.34 to $365.89 and Select boxes decreasing by $0.72 to $361.73. Thursday’s estimated cattle slaughter was 114,000 head, bringing the weekly total to 447,000—32,000 fewer than the previous week and 33,988 lower than the same time last year. The monthly Cattle on Feed report is expected to reveal a 6.5% drop in December placements and a 1.5% year-over-year increase in marketing, with the on-feed inventory projected to decrease by 3.2% as of January 1.
