Cattle Futures - Cattle Complex Weak

US - CME live cattle closed weak on late-session profit-taking and building anxiety ahead of not only this week's cash cattle exchange hands but also the cattle report.

21 April 2008

1 minute read

North America

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's monthly cattle-on-feed survey will be released on Friday at 3 p.m. EDT. The following are analysts' average estimates and ranges for the data in percentages of a year ago:

.	Average of Estimates	Range of Estimates
On Feed in April	101.3	100.4-102.0
Placed in March	91.9	87.8-98.0
Marketed in March	98.0	96.0-99.4

Beef futures posted modest gains at the start on supportive boxed beef quotes and talk that packers might be forced to pay as much as $3 more for supplies this week than a week ago.

Packer bids for live-basis fed cattle rose to $90 per hundredweight on Friday from $86 earlier in the week. Asking prices on Friday were at $90 to $92, but some producers are holding out for more money.

Source: FXSTREET