Live cattle futures fell $1.52 to $2.55 on Thursday, as traders were busy positioning themselves ahead of Friday’s CoF report. Some southern cattle traded at $187 to $188.50 this week. Northern trade has yet to be widely established, with some sales of $310 in the beef and live bids of $196. The Central Stockyards Fed Cattle Exchange saw live sale of $188 in TX, with a BidTheGrid™ method sale $190 in TX and $196.50 in KS. Feeder cattle futures were pressured lower Thursday, with losses of $2.00 to $2.55. The CME Feeder Cattle Index was down $2.06 on July 17 at $259.26.
Beef export sales totaled 15,401 MT in the week that ended on July 11, well above last week. Shipments were an improvement from the week prior at 15,588 MT.
