--Cattle futures extend decline after hitting fresh peaks
--Concerns about retail demand for historically pricey beef also
weigh on futures, cash bids
--Hog futures decline on profit-taking after hitting four-week
highs
By Kelsey Gee
CHICAGO--U.S. cattle futures are falling early in the session
Friday, pressured by concerns that lukewarm demand for wholesale
beef from grocery stores and restaurants could weigh on prices
owners get in the cash markets this week.
October live cattle are down 0.725 cent at $1.5665 a pound at
the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. Most-active feeder-cattle futures
for October recently slipped 0.35 cent to $2.2525 a pound.
Packers had curbed production this month around the Labor Day
holiday, pinching supplies of wholesale beef available to retailers
and export buyers, and raising expectations for prices that
grinders, patty-makers, distributors and other beef buyers might
pay for chucks and roasts this week.
However, the wholesale market has moved sideways for much of the
week, signaling to some industry watchers that retailers are
balking at the higher-priced beef in favor of cheaper proteins,
such as pork and chicken.
Wholesale choice-grade beef prices Thursday rose eight cents per
hundred pounds to $251.54, according to the U.S. Department of
Agriculture. Select-grade prices fell $1.83 per hundred pounds to
$236.35. Wholesale pork prices, meanwhile, rose $1.84 to $106.41 a
hundred pounds, according to the agency, less than half the price
of beef.
"Retailers are going to feature anything else, but they're not
going to feature beef" for sale at these prices, said Larry Hicks,
owner of CattleHedging.com in Centennial, Colo.
Prices for cattle in the cash and futures market climbed just
shy of record all-time highs hit earlier this summer over the past
week, leading to large swings in prices in recent sessions as
market watchers assess whether or not prices have carved out a
near-term ceiling. So far, processors have yet to bid aggressively
for cattle in the negotiated markets.
Hog futures are mostly lower, retreating from four-week highs
hit earlier this week amid profit-taking. October hog futures are
down 0.72 cent at $1.04565 a pound.
Write to Kelsey Gee at kelsey.gee@wsj.com
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