CZ Cattle Market Analytics analyst Ed Czerwien from Amarillo, TX, provides the following fed cattle and boxed beef recaps for the week ending May 22, 2021.
Fed cattle recap:
The feedlot cattle trades for WE May 22 were mostly steady and the cash sales volume was higher than the previous week.
The Five-area formula sales volume totaled 233,387 head compared to about 220,000 the previous week. The Five-area total cash steer and heifer volume was 69,292 head compared to about 59,000 head the previous week.
Nationally reported forward contracted cattle harvested was about 57,000 head this week and packers have 247,000 head for May along with 194,000 head for June. The nationally reported 15-30 day delivery purchases this week were 24,043 head along with 18,000-30,000 head for many previous week.
Now looking at the prices. The weekly weighted average cash steer price for the five-area region was $119.72, which was only $0.01 lower compared to the previous week and last year the same week it was $117.06 which was about $4.75 higher that week last year. The same week in 2015 it was $159.92 even though the daily Choice cutout now was 60 dollars higher than 2015
This week the current five area weighted average live steer formula price was $121.34 this week and the live formula heifer price was $121.44.
The weighted average Five-area cash dressed steer price was $190.58 which was $0.09 higher. The five-area weighted average formula price which is steers and heifers was $192.62 which was $0.64 higher.
The estimated weekly total FIS cattle harvest was reported at 669,000 head and compared to 572,000 head the same week last year which was when the packing plants were still running slower and some shut down yet.
The latest average National steer carcass weight for WE May 08 was 896 lbs which was 5 lbs higher than the previous week and compared to 896 lbs the same week last year which was 3 lbs higher than the previous week last year.
Choice-Select spread on Friday May 21 was at 22.86 compared to 23.75 the previous week and that compared to 22.56 spread last year.
Boxed beef recap:
The daily spot Choice box beef cutout ended the week on Friday May 21 at $325.17 which was $8.23 higher compared to previous Friday. Last year it was $396.74 on the same Friday which was about $37 lower, so it had continued to drop much lower last year. However, in 2015 it was $262 the same Friday so, it is now about 60 higher than 2015 when fat cattle prices were much higher than they are now.
The end of this week the daily Choice Chuck and Round primal were 7 to 17 higher. The daily Choice Rib and Loin primal were 4 to 9 higher. The weekly total for the daily cutout was 458 loads and about 6 % of the weekly total loads sold.
The weekly average Choice cutout which includes all types of sales including the daily Choice cutout was 309.62 which was $8.96 higher.
The total sales were 7224 total loads sold for the week which was 804 loads higher than the previous week and helped by exports which were very big.
The out-front sales which get delivered after 21 days were 1976 loads which was 626 loads higher than last week.
The exports as reported on the Box Beef report were 1729 loads which was 737 loads higher compared to the previous week. This week 81 loads were sold to our NAFTA neighbors and 1648 loads were going overseas.
Formula sales were at 3581 loads which was 121 loads higher than last week and about 50 pecent of the total loads sold this week. The formula sales included about 2.0 million lbs of Choice ribeye products along with about 1.5 million lbs of Choice loin strips.
Taking a look at the major primal cuts which impact the cutout value and the weekly average numbers include all of the different types of sales. The weekly average Choice Chuck and Round primal were 8 to 11 higher. The weekly average Choice Rib primal and the Loin were 10 to 11 higher and no doubt still helped by the grilling season along with big demand from restaurants.
The daily cow cutout ended the week on Friday May 21 was $ 5.01 higher at 210.17 and the 90% trimmings were at 256.49 which was $ 5.66 higher compared to the previous Friday.
The latest report of Imported meat passed for entry into the U.S. for week ending May 15 showed 22,167 metric tons of fresh beef which was about 2100 higher than the previous week and about 700 lower than last year. The year to date total for these imports is 8 % lower than last year. The top 4 countries are Canada which is number one and is 15 % higher than last year, Mexico is the second highest but 8 % lower than last year, New Zealand is 6 % lower, and Australia which is 45 % lower.
Comments