Cattle rise as winter weather slows weight gains
Sunday, 3 January 2010
NEW YORK, Jan 02 (Bloomberg): Cattle futures rose for the first time in three days on speculation that beef supplies are declining after winter storms last week in the US curbed animal weight gains. Hog prices declined.
On average, cash-market steers weighed 1,347 pounds at slaughter in the week ended December 27, down 1.3 per cent from two weeks earlier, US Department of Agriculture figures show. Cattle may be kept longer in feedlots in Nebraska and Iowa to boost weights, spurring meatpackers to raise spot-market bids.
"Some of these feedlots in the northern plains are still not eager to sell cattle after having weight-gain problems," said Rich Nelson, Allendale Inc's research director in McHenry, Illinois. "It's all weather-related. Some feedlots got 13 to 16 inches of snow," or 33 to 41 centimeters, he said.
Cattle futures for February delivery rose 1.125 cents, or 1.3 per cent, to 86.175 cents a pound on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. The most-active contract was up 0.1 per cent this year. Futures climbed 24 per cent since the close of 1999.
March feeder-cattle futures rose 1.375 cents, or 1.4 per cent, to 96.25 cents a pound today on the CME for a 2009 gain of 2.7 per cent. The price is up 13 per cent from the end of 1999.
Spot-market live cattle traded about $2 higher yesterday than last week, Troy Vetterkind, the owner of Vetterkind Cattle Brokerage in Chicago, said today in a note.
Hog futures for February settlement fell 0.025 cent to 65.6 cents a pound, after earlier climbing as much as 1 per cent. The most-active contract advanced 7.8 per cent this year and 20 per cent since December 30, 1999.
Farmers held the fewest breeding sows in at least 33 years as of December 1, the USDA reported yesterday. High feed costs have contributed to more than two years of losses for producers.
The data was "disappointing," in part because the number of sows expected to give birth next year didn't drop as much as expected, Kenneth Goldman, a JPMorgan Chase & Co. analyst in New York, said yesterday in a report. "Barring a meaningful increase in demand, the risk to hog futures is greater to the downside than to the upside," he said.
About 1.9 per cent fewer sows may produce offspring in the three months through February than a year earlier, according to the USDA. Five analysts surveyed earlier by Bloomberg News forecast a 3.3 per cent decline.
On average, cash-market steers weighed 1,347 pounds at slaughter in the week ended December 27, down 1.3 per cent from two weeks earlier, US Department of Agriculture figures show. Cattle may be kept longer in feedlots in Nebraska and Iowa to boost weights, spurring meatpackers to raise spot-market bids.
"Some of these feedlots in the northern plains are still not eager to sell cattle after having weight-gain problems," said Rich Nelson, Allendale Inc's research director in McHenry, Illinois. "It's all weather-related. Some feedlots got 13 to 16 inches of snow," or 33 to 41 centimeters, he said.
Cattle futures for February delivery rose 1.125 cents, or 1.3 per cent, to 86.175 cents a pound on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. The most-active contract was up 0.1 per cent this year. Futures climbed 24 per cent since the close of 1999.
March feeder-cattle futures rose 1.375 cents, or 1.4 per cent, to 96.25 cents a pound today on the CME for a 2009 gain of 2.7 per cent. The price is up 13 per cent from the end of 1999.
Spot-market live cattle traded about $2 higher yesterday than last week, Troy Vetterkind, the owner of Vetterkind Cattle Brokerage in Chicago, said today in a note.
Hog futures for February settlement fell 0.025 cent to 65.6 cents a pound, after earlier climbing as much as 1 per cent. The most-active contract advanced 7.8 per cent this year and 20 per cent since December 30, 1999.
Farmers held the fewest breeding sows in at least 33 years as of December 1, the USDA reported yesterday. High feed costs have contributed to more than two years of losses for producers.
The data was "disappointing," in part because the number of sows expected to give birth next year didn't drop as much as expected, Kenneth Goldman, a JPMorgan Chase & Co. analyst in New York, said yesterday in a report. "Barring a meaningful increase in demand, the risk to hog futures is greater to the downside than to the upside," he said.
About 1.9 per cent fewer sows may produce offspring in the three months through February than a year earlier, according to the USDA. Five analysts surveyed earlier by Bloomberg News forecast a 3.3 per cent decline.