Hog futures mixed as pork prices edge off recent lows - CME

Cattle futures fall for third session on weaker margins

Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) live cattle futures fell on Thursday for a third straight session on technical selling, softening packer margins and positioning a day ahead of a monthly government feedlot report, Reuters reported.

CME October live cattle futures settled down 2.800 cents at 215.650 cents per pound. Most-active December cattle ended down 3.950 cents at 216.250 cents a pound, dropping below chart support at the contract's 20-day moving average near 217 cents.

CME October feeder cattle fell 5.275 cents to settle at 324.375 cents per pound.

Packer margins were slipping. Beef packers were earning $64.60 per head of cattle as of Thursday, down from $90.20 a day earlier and $180.45 a week earlier, according to Denver-based livestock marketing advisory service HedgersEdge.com LLC.

Traders were adjusting positions ahead of Friday's monthly USDA Cattle on Feed report. Analysts surveyed by Reuters on average expected the government to report the number of cattle in US feedlots as of September 1 at 11.268 million head, up 1.7% from a year earlier.

But placements into feedlots and marketings during August were seen below year-ago levels.

Meanwhile, the USDA confirmed a case of New World screwworm in a horse in New Mexico, as the federal government prepared to resume imports of Mexican livestock into the state after blocking trade in an attempt to keep out the flesh-eating parasite.

A spokesperson for the New Mexico Department of Agriculture said she had no immediate update about whether the latest case would affect those plans. The USDA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

CME hog futures closed mostly lower on plentiful US hog supplies, although wholesale pork prices recovered slightly from 2-1/2-year lows.

CME October lean hogs settled up 0.225 cent at 78.900 cents per pound, bouncing after hitting a contract low at 78.275 cents. But most other contract months ended lower, including most-active December, which closed down 0.350 cent at 69.600 cents.

The USDA quoted the wholesale pork carcass cutout on Thursday afternoon at $87.54 per hundredweight, up $1.19 from $86.35 on Wednesday, the lowest reading since February 2024.