Hog market steadies as ASF concerns, trade shifts persist - CME

Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) cattle futures rose on Wednesday for a second session on tight US cattle supplies and wintry weather in portions of the central and northern Plains, reported Reuters. 

CME February live cattle settled up 1.100 cents at 221.900 cents per pound, and January feeder cattle rose 1.975 cents to end at 331.850 cents per pound.

Snowfall as far south as Nebraska "is benefiting winter wheat but creating difficult conditions for livestock and their producers," the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) said in a daily weather note.

Wholesale beef prices were mixed. The USDA priced choice cuts on Wednesday afternoon at $363.81 per hundredweight (cwt), down $0.91 from Tuesday, while select cuts rose by $2.34 to $353.12 per cwt.

In the hog market, CME February lean hog futures settled up 0.825 cent at 81.000 cents per pound, bouncing after a three-session slide.

The USDA priced pork carcasses on Wednesday afternoon at $94.02 per hundredweight, down $0.20 from Tuesday.

Traders continued to monitor an outbreak of African swine fever among wild boar in Spain, the EU's largest pork producer. Spain's Catalonia region pledged to curb its wild boar population, including by ramping up culls.