Live cattle futures posted $1.20 to $2.05 higher trade across the board on Friday, with June holding up $5 on the week as the cash market was a driver. Open interest was up 3,445 contracts on Friday. Cash trade was mostly $260-265 in the South last week, with northern trade at $408-415 dressed and up to $265 live. Feeder cattle futures were up $1.10 to $4.70 to close out the Friday session. August was $2.77 lower last week. The CME Feeder Cattle Index was down $3.14 to $370.09 on May 14.
China has renewed expired export licenses for more than 400 US beef plants after letting them lapse. On Sunday, the White House released a fact sheet on the US/China talks from last week, in part stating that “China will purchase at least $17 billion per year of U.S. agricultural products in 2026 (prorated), 2027, and 2028, in addition to the soybean purchase commitments that it made in October 2025.”
