On Thursday, live cattle futures experienced gains between 77 cents and $1.27, closing with April 26 Live Cattle at $249.775. In the cash market, light trading occurred at $246 in the South, marking a steady increase of $1 from the previous week. The Central Stockyards Fed Cattle Exchange auction on Thursday reported bids of $244 to $244.50 for 970 head with no sales taking place.
The USDA’s Export Sales report revealed 17,408 MT of beef sold in the week ending April 2, the third-largest weekly total so far this year. South Korea and Japan were the top buyers, each purchasing 6,100 MT, while shipment totals decreased to 13,321 MT. Additionally, USDA estimated a federally inspected cattle slaughter of 105,000 head on Thursday, resulting in a weekly total of 425,000, down 4,000 from last week and 38,950 from the same week last year.
