USA: Cattle market overview for the 18th week of 2022

Live cattle and hog futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) tumbled on Friday as investors worry about the prospect of food inflation hitting US MEAT consumer demand as the summer grilling season kicks off.

“There are big concerns about demand right now as exports are slow and CHINA is largely out of the market,” said Don Roose, president of US Commodities in Iowa.

Livestock futures fell amid lingering fears that rising inflation will dampen US consumer demand. Fattener contracts strengthened as corn futures fell.

Wholesale beef prices were in line with last year's levels until mid-April, leading many market participants to brace for significant price inflation ahead of the grilling season. Stocks of beef cuts at the end of March were 54% higher than the previous year. Current prices are about 16% lower than a year ago, but still 15% higher than in 2019. Is the price cut the result of retailers making fewer orders before Easter and also planning fewer purchases for Memorial Day (May 30)? Or does it reflect a slowdown in demand as fuel prices and general price inflation take a toll on consumer finances? Given the limited data currently available, analysts are more inclined towards the second option.

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WEEKLY CUT CHOICE COST

CATTLE SALES

Sale of livestock, heads

Average weight

04/29/2022

05/06/2022

Growth per week,%

04/29/2022

05/06/2022

Growth,%

Bulls (live weight)

46 092

40 082

-13.0%

1454

1435

-1.3%

Heifers (live weight)

21 034

17 032

-19.0%

1 302

1 300

-0.2%

Bulls (slaughter. weight)

22 301

15 259

-31.6%

933

925

-0.9%

Heifers (slaughter weight)

6 107

4 788

-21.6%

842

835

-0.8%

WEEKLY WEIGHTED AVERAGE PRICE OF BULLS

BEEF PRODUCTION

Slaughter volume

18 week

18 week 2021

Growth per year,%

Live weight

657 000

639 000

2.8%

slaughter weight

1377

1368

0.7%

Beef production (million pounds)

832

826

0.7%

Beef production (thousand tons)

545.5

526.7

3.6%

CME, Livestock Futures

Week 17

Week 18

Growth per week,%

June

141.90

132.75

-6.4%

August

132.65

135.53

2.2%

October

135.28

142.88

5.6%

CME, Fattener Cattle Futures

May

156.35

159.55

2.0%

August

168.28

174.70

3.8%

September

171.43

177.95

3.8%

You can learn more about the state of the cattle market in the usa (cattle prices, beef prices by category, production dynamics) in the weekly reviews of the meat market in RUSSIA and in the world from Meatinfo.ru.

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