Live cattle futures closed the Thursday with contracts down $1.67 to $3.45. There were 3 deliveries for April retendered in Dodge City on Thursday, with another 20 deliveries tendered in West Point. Open interest slipped 1,576 contracts on Thursday, suggesting some longs were exiting. Cash trade has picked up this week, with a few $248 sales in the South, as last week was $246-249 in the South and $249-250 in the north. The Thursday morning Fed Cattle Exchange online auction showed no sales on the 1,222 head, with bids of $246-248. Feeder cattle futures posted losses of $3.67 to $4.62 on Thursday, with April down 42 cents. The CME Feeder Cattle Index was up $3.63 to $379.09 on April 15.
The Thursday update from APHIS on the new world screwworm in Mexico showed a total of 1,295 active cases across the country. There was still 63 total active cases in the bordering state of Tamaulipas as of April 15, with 2 active cases in Nuevo Leon.
