CHICAGO, July 21 (Reuters) – Feeder cattle futures dropped on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange on Tuesday as the cash cattle trade weakened, analysts said. CME August feeder cattle futures fell 2.45 cents to finish at 349.55 cents per pound.
The feeder cattle market slumped, with buyers less willing to place cattle on feed lots in extremely hot weather, and grain prices rising on Monday, said Karl Setzer, president of Consus Ag Consulting.
The CME feeder cattle index price was quoted at $356.22.
On the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), soybeans fell back 3-1/2 cents to end at $12.22-3/4 a bushel on Tuesday after surging to multi-month highs during the previous session. Meanwhile, corn futures notched up 2-1/4 cents to $4.75-1/4 a bushel. Live cattle futures firmed, with CME August live cattle futures settling 0.20 cent higher. October live cattle futures ended down 0.075 cent at 223.225 cents a pound.
Boxed beef prices dipped with choice cuts of beef losing $3.19 to $366.91 per hundredweight (cwt), according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture on Tuesday afternoon. Select cuts fell $1.22 to $354.23 per cwt.
Meat packers were in the red, losing $217.65 per head of cattle on Tuesday, but trimmed losses from the previous day, when they lost $275.20 per head, according to livestock marketing advisory service HedgersEdge.com.
CME October hogs firmed 0.40 cent to finish at 88.125 cents per pound.
The CME’s Lean Hog Index, a two-day weighted average of cash hog prices, was last quoted at $96.16.
The USDA priced the pork carcass cutout late on Tuesday at $104.82 per cwt, up $1.72.
(Reporting by Renee Hickman; Editing by Diti Pujara)
