CME Cattle Futures Surge as Corn Prices Plummet

Cattle futures rose on Wednesday at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), despite being relatively range-bound in recent days. The increase was largely due to a sharp drop in corn futures, which gave feeder cattle futures a boost. This comes after commodity funds pared some of their long positions amid supply chain concerns.

Cattle analyst Ross Baldwin noted that while the cash market has been gaining strength from premium prices, trading volume remains low. One concern for livestock traders is the nation's pace of cattle slaughter, which processed an estimated 98,000 cattle on Wednesday. This is up from 94,000 head a week earlier but below levels seen before an immigration crackdown discouraged meatpacking employees in southwest Kansas.

The CME November feeders settled at 334.300 cents per pound, while December live cattle finished at 222.700 cents per pound. In contrast, CME December lean hog futures closed down at 69.425 cents per pound. Boxed beef prices were mixed on Wednesday morning, with choice cuts increasing by 1 cent to $382.68 per hundredweight and select cuts falling $2.41 to $362.07 per cwt.