Hog futures firm on disease worries, pork prices climb - CME

Cattle futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) ticked down as the market assessed the impact of a massive winter storm forecast to hit the US with heavy snow and freezing rain from the Central Plains to the East Coast, Reuters reported, citing the National Weather Service.

CME February live cattle futures settled down 0.725 cent at 232.375 cents per pound, while April live cattle futures ended 0.125 cent lower at 234.825 cents per pound.

March feeder cattle futures ended down 0.100 cent at 359.275 cents per pound.

Don Roose, president of US Commodities, said with major US population centers set to be hit by the weather, demand could be affected as Americans choose to stay home instead of going out to eat at restaurants.

But Roose said the forecast could also lead people to stock up on meat before the weather hits.

Roose called it a "double-edge sword."

Meanwhile, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) is expected to report on Friday the number of cattle on feed in feedlots on January 1 was down 3.2% from a year ago, analysts forecast, as cattle supplies remain tight and the size of the US herd is at decade lows.

The US Department of Agriculture quoted the choice boxed beef cutout value at $367.45 per hundredweight (cwt) on Thursday afternoon, up $1.34 from a day earlier. Select cuts fell by $0.72 to $361.73 per cwt.

Meanwhile, lean hog futures ticked higher, with most-active April lean hogs ending up 0.750 cent at 96.35 cents per pound.

Roose said hog futures continued to gain strength on investor concerns about disease - specifically porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome and porcine epidemic diarrhea virus, in US hog operations.