CZ Cattle Market Analytics analyst Ed Czerwien from Amarillo, TX, provides the following fed cattle and boxed beef recaps for the week ending Jan. 30, 2021.
Weekly fed cattle recap for week ending Jan 30:
The feedlot cattle trades for WE Jan 30 were steady early but mostly 3 to 4 higher later in the week and the cash sales volume was very close to the previous week.
The Five-area formula sales volume totaled 238,418 head compared to about 240,000 the previous week. The Five-area total cash steer and heifer volume was 76,498 head compared to about 76,623 head the previous week.
Nationally reported forward contracted cattle harvested was about 40,000 head this week. The nationally reported 15-30 day delivery purchases this week were 12,421 head along with about 24,000 head the previous week.
Now looking at the prices. The weekly weighted average cash steer price for WE 01/30/21 for the five-area region was 112.44, which was $3.21 higher compared to the previous week and last year the same week it was 122.04 which was about $1.25 lower that week last year. The current five area weighted average live steer formula price was 112.54 this week but the live formula heifer price was 113.77.
The weighted average Five-area cash dressed steer price was 177.56 which was $4.98 higher. The five-area weighted average formula price which is steers and heifers was 177.52 which was $1.39 lower.
The estimated weekly total FIS cattle harvest was reported at 653,000 head which compared to 638,000 head the same week last year.
The latest average National steer carcass weight for WE Jan 16 was 925 lbs which was 2 lbs higher than the previous week and compared to 907 lbs the same week last year which was 3 lbs higher than the previous week last year. That 925 lbs is the highest weight for this time of the year when the weights are always dropping lower during the winter as you can see on the graph.
Choice-Select spread on Friday was at 11.25 compared to 9.48 the previous week and that compared to 2.34 spread last year.
Weekly boxed beef recap for week ending Jan 30:
The daily spot Choice box beef cutout ended the week on Friday Jan 29 at 233.95 which was $11.13 higher compared to previous Friday and climbing 27 dollars the last three weeks pushing it well above last year. Last year it was 213.00 on the same Friday which was $ 1.49 lower. This week the daily chuck and round primals were 4 to 5 higher. However, the daily Choice rib primal and loin primal were 18 to 27 higher as we approach Valentine’s Day which is normal now. The weekly total for the daily cutout was 528 loads and about 7 % of the weekly total loads sold.
The weekly average Choice cutout which includes all types of sales including the daily Choice cutout was 222.19 which was $7.89 higher and following the daily cutout slowly which is always normal.
There were 7585 total loads sold for the week which was 808 loads lower than the previous week but that is still a big number which was helped again by very big exports.
The out-front sales which get delivered after 21 days were 2204 loads which was 373 loads lower than last week.
The exports as reported on the Box Beef report were 1427 loads which was still a big number but that was 522 loads lower compared to the previous week. This week 108 loads were sold to our NAFTA neighbors and 1319 loads were going overseas.
Formula sales were at 3560 loads which was 31 loads lower than last week and about 47 percent of the total loads sold this week. The formula sales included about 3.2 million lbs of Choice ribeye products as we get closer to the Valentine’s Day.
Taking a look at the major primal cuts. The weekly average Choice Chuck and Round primal were steady to 5 higher. The weekly average Choice loin primal was 21 higher and the weekly average Choice rib was 7 higher helped by big formula sales, also both were helped by Valentine’s Day sales.
The daily cow cutout ended the week on Friday was $ 1.45 lower at 178.87 and the 90% trimmings were at 220.79 which was $ 1.49 lower compared to the previous Friday.
The latest report of Imported meat passed for entry into the U.S. for week ending Jan 23 showed 17,943 metric tons of fresh beef which was about 800 lower than the previous week and about 2200 lower than last year. The year to date total for these imports is now 12 % lower than last year.
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