The following arcitle is from Bloomberg:
By Elizabeth Campbell
Cattle futures fell the most this month on speculation that a heat wave in the U.S. will curb red- meat consumption. Hog futures also declined.
An excessive heat watch, meaning temperatures will feel hotter than 105 degrees Fahrenheit (41 Celsius), has been issued for eastern Kansas and Nebraska, according to the National Weather Service. Meatpackers are concerned that beef demand and prices will slow at the end of the month, said Troy Vetterkind, the owner of Vetterkind Cattle Brokerage in Chicago.
“If there’s going to be hot weather, you’re going to have lower red-meat consumption,” said Mark Schultz, the chief analyst at Northstar Commodity Investment Co. in Minneapolis. “Most people eat lighter. They won’t go out to eat a steak.”
Cattle futures for October delivery declined 1.225 cents, or 1 percent, to $1.18675 a pound at 9:33 a.m. on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. A close at that price would be the biggest decline since June 27. Yesterday, the commodity reached $1.214, the highest for a most-active contract since April 4, when cattle fetched an all-time high of $1.21625. Before today, the price rallied 30 percent in the past year.
Hog futures for October settlement fell 0.625 cent, or 0.7 percent, to 92.6 cents a pound in Chicago. Before today, the commodity gained 26 percent in the past year.
Yesterday, spot-market hog prices fell 1.2 percent to 90.34 cents a pound, the lowest since June 14, U.S. Department of Agriculture data show.
Feeder-cattle futures for August settlement dropped 1.525 cents, or 1.1 percent, to $1.38375 a pound, after touching $1.3825, the lowest since July 1.
Source: Bloomberg
Posted by Haylie Shipp
