Feeders are trading +$3 higher with 1.2% to 1.4% gains so far on Thursday. Fats are also in the black so far, though gains are limited to 0.6% at midday. USDA confirmed light cash market action on Wednesday, but it was not enough to establish a market. The CME Feeder Cattle Index on 10/31 was 2 cents higher to $237.25.
USDA’s Export Sales report had 17k MT of beef bookings for the week that ended 10/26. That was down wk/wk but remained above the rolling 4-week average led by 6k MT sold to China. The weekly update also showed 1.7k MT sold for 2024, for a total forward book of 7.6k MT. Weekly shipments were 14k MT for a season total of 672,457 MT.
