Pork Wrap May 3
Download PDF In contrast to the cattle market, the hog and pork complex was pretty boring this week. Negotiated hog prices barely moved, with the NDD averaging $90.97, up $0.42 from the week before. The cutout also barely moved, averaging $98.35, up a mere $0.16 from the week before. The LHI actually declined, losing $0.47 …
Beef Wrap May 3
Download PDF The avian influenza story reared its head again this week as government officials announced they would be testing for traces of the virus in ground beef. That sent the futures sharply lower as traders assumed that, similar to milk, fragments of the virus would be found in beef. Then on Thursday, it was …
Pork Wrap April 26
Download PDF Last week, I talked about how the hog and pork complex had taken a breather following the Apr futures expiration and this week that breather turned into a full-on nap. The pork cutout dropped $2.36/cwt. to average $98.19. At the same time, the negotiated hog markets moved a little higher, with the WCB …
Beef Wrap April 26
Download PDF Traders bought the futures aggressively on Monday following the COF report and that seemed to set the tone for a solidly higher cash cattle market this week. On Wednesday, there was news that DNA of the avian influenza virus had been detected in pasteurized milk and that caused some selling in cattle futures, …
Pork Wrap April 19
Download PDF After bursting higher last week, prices in the hog and pork complex took a breather this week. The cutout dropped $0.20/cwt. on its way to averaging $100.55 and the WCB negotiated market was down $0.77/cwt. to average $89.15. However, for some strange reason, the front end of the lean hog futures curve posted …
Beef Wrap April 19
Download PDF Prices in the cattle and beef complex slipped lower again this week, with the Choice cutout dropping $2.84/cwt. on a weekly average basis and the Select cutout losing $6.38/cwt. Cash cattle markets were mostly lower also and it looks like the 5-area weighted average will ring in somewhere close to $182.50, down about …
Pork Wrap April 12
Download PDF The hog and pork complex got pumped up this week, just in time for the Apr futures expiration. The cutout gained $3.85/cwt. on a weekly average basis in moving to $100.76 and the WCB negotiated spot market added $4.54/cwt. on its way to averaging $89.93. As a result, the LHI surged higher, up …
Beef Wrap April 12
Download PDF Cash cattle traded lower again this week, with the average live price expected to come in around $183.80/cwt., down a little over $2 from the week before. The cutouts were also lower, but not by much, as the Choice averaged $300.27 on the week, down $0.84 and the Select averaged $297.38, down $0.31. …
Pork Wrap April 5
Download PDF Cash hog prices jumped this week and it could be a sign that near-term hog supplies are already starting to tighten up. The WCB negotiated market added $5.01 to average $85.39. The cutout also saw good gains, adding $2.25/cwt on a weekly average basis. Most of the gains came later in the week …