On Thursday, live cattle futures rose by 87 cents to $1.30, with cash trade mostly at $372 dressed and live sales between $235-236. The Fed Cattle Exchange auction sold 447 head at $235.50 out of 1,656 offered. In feeder cattle futures, prices dropped by 30 to 59 cents for front-month contracts. The CME Feeder Cattle Index fell $3.83 to $360.97 as of March 11.
In the latest APHIS report, there were 9 new cases of New World Screwworm reported in Tamaulipas, Mexico, raising the total to 23 active cases, primarily in cattle. Export sales data for the week ending March 5 showed beef sales at 25,443 MT, the highest since February 2023, with South Korea purchasing 11,600 MT and Japan 5,900 MT. However, beef shipments were at a calendar-year low of 11,427 MT.
Wholesale boxed beef prices increased, with choice boxes up 39 cents to $397.09 and select boxes rising $1.57 to $390.82. The USDA’s slaughter estimate for Thursday showed 108,000 head inspected, totaling 425,000 for the week, which is 8,000 less than the previous week and 57,938 head below the same week last year.
