Cattle markets gain on strong demand - CME
June lean hog futures fall
6 May 2025
2 minute read
By: Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) live cattle and feeder cattle futures ticked higher on Monday on a strong cash cattle market and higher boxed beef prices, Reuters reported, citing analysts.
The cash market has surged higher as resilient consumer demand for beef has forced meatpackers to bid up for cattle, despite high cattle prices.
"There's a need for cattle. The feedlots have quite a bit of leverage and consumer demand is still out there given that we're seeing boxed beef strength," Austin Schroeder, analyst for Brugler Marketing & Management, said.
CME June live cattle futures rose 2.55 cents to close at 213.65 cents per pound. August feeder cattle futures rose 2 cents to end at 298.900 cents per pound.
Choice cuts of boxed beef rose 67 cents to $343.57 per hundredweight on Monday afternoon, while select cuts rose $2.72 to $328.07 per hundredweight, according to US Department of Agriculture data.
Cattle and hog futures are also benefiting from seasonally higher beef demand heading into the Mother's Day and Memorial Day holidays in May and the start of the summer grilling season.
Tyson Foods reported lower-than-expected quarterly sales and stuck to its annual revenue forecast on Monday morning amid weaker demand for beef, sending shares down.
Demand for Tyson's beef declined as average prices spiked 8.2% in the second quarter that ended on March 29. Some shoppers are increasingly opting for less expensive meats, such as chicken, as consumer sentiment has ebbed.
Meatpackers slaughtered an estimated 87,000 cattle on Friday, down 27% from a year earlier, the USDA said. They slaughtered about 480,000 hogs, up 4% from a year ago.
CME June lean hog futures fell 0.35 cent to close at 99 cents per pound on technical selling and lighter cash volume.
