Live cattle futures have recorded gains of 30 to 55 cents on Tuesday, while feeder cattle futures are up between $1.95 and $2.30 at midday. Cash trade from last week settled between $232 and $233 per hundredweight. In the Monday OKC feeder cattle auction, an estimated 9,266 head were sold with prices for feeder steers and heifers increasing by $3 to $20, and calves rising by $15 to $20.
The USDA reported that wholesale boxed beef prices decreased, with Choice boxes down 53 cents to $353.19 and Select boxes down 69 cents to $350.81. Monday’s federally inspected cattle slaughter was estimated at 115,000 head, a drop of 3,000 from the previous week but up 6,461 from the same period last year.
As of December 30, large managed money speculators reduced their net long position in live cattle futures by 1,893 contracts, bringing the total to 92,975 contracts. In contrast, speculators increased their net long position in feeder cattle futures by 666 contracts, totaling 15,295 contracts.
