Futures on cattle grew on Wednesday amid purchases for lowered prices. Earlier futures dropped to their lows for week and a half. By the end of CME trades, April futures on cattle increased by 0.60 cent (0.51%) up to 1.1827 US dollars per pound. June contract closed with a gain of 0.17 cent having thus constituted 1.3302 US dollars per pound.
Futures increased amid weakening US dollar which has been intensifying the expectations of export demand growth, even though import demand showed decrease.
Dropping US dollar makes futures less expensive for those who operate with other currencies.
Another source of support for the market is the growth of prices for lean pork. They rose amid the prospects of seasonal decline in supply.
Market participants consider that futures growth may well continue after last week large-scale sales.
On the other hand, cash prices for beef tend to decrease in mid-April as more meat comes to the market. Prices fall is indispensable for demand to grow. At the same time export sales can support the market. Yet, many traders have been expressing concerns over high wholesale prices possible to have an opposite effects.
These concerns exacerbated shortly after the US Agriculture Department announced the wholesale prices for beef to have grown by 0.43 cent per pound.