By Cassie Fish, http://cassandrafish.com

Yesterday’s dynamically bullish action in CME live cattle futures, was given more credence by the fact that volume was heavy at 64k contracts and open interest rose over 5k contracts. Today the market has traded mostly a bit lower, though if gains are held on Friday’s close, it will be new-all-time-high settlements through the strip of contract months. Spot December is the highest any spot live cattle contract has traded since April 2015.

Extremely frigid wind chills are barreling through cattle feeding country from Nebraska down to the Texas panhandle. Wind chills are in the minus 30 range in many areas.

This cold weather slows the entire supply chain, from processing throughput to weight gain of cattle. This week’s slaughter total will land somewhere between 550k and 580k head mostly likely, 100k head smaller than though early Monday morning.

This throughput slow down has boosted boxed beef prices, choice printing at $266 this morning, the highest daily price since early August and the highest daily value for any third week in December in history. Fed cattle prices are the second highest for any December in history. Today in Nebraska, there has been light cash trade, $158 delivered and south a little trade at steady, $155. This week’s production cuts have taken pressure off the packers to buy many cattle this week and they may well wait until next week, to the extent they can.

Next week temperatures will normalize and business will get back to a normal holiday week. It will be interesting to see if packers work on Saturday, December 31, since so much production was lost this week. Seasonally boxed beef prices advance the first two to three weeks of January as retailers fully restock post-holiday season.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all of our readers around the world. We appreciate you! Stay warm!

_{Copyright © 2022 the Beef Read. All rights reserved}

_{The Beef is published by Consolidated Beef Producers}

_{Use of part or all of this blog for any reason without permission is strictly prohibited.}  

_{Disclaimer:  The Beef, CBP, Cassie Fish nor NFC Frontier Capital Markets shall not be liable for decisions or actions taken based on the data/information/opinions.} 

_{This material has been prepared by a sales or trading employee or agent of New Frontier Capital Markets and is, or is in the nature of, a solicitation. This material is not a research report prepared by New Frontier Capital Markets. By accepting this communication, you agree that you are an experienced user of the futures markets, capable of making independent trading decisions, and agree that you are not, and will not, rely solely on this communication in making trading decisions. DISTRIBUTION IN SOME JURISDICTIONS MAY BE PROHIBITED OR RESTRICTED BY LAW.  PERSONS IN POSSESSION OF THIS COMMUNICATION INDIRECTLY SHOULD INFORM THEMSELVES ABOUT AND OBSERVE ANY SUCH PROHIBITION OR RESTRICTIONS.  TO THE EXTENT THAT YOU HAVE RECEIVED THIS COMMUNICATION INDIRECTLY AND SOLICITATIONS ARE PROHIBITED IN YOUR JURISDICTION WITHOUT REGISTRATION, THE MARKET COMMENTARY IN THIS COMMUNICATION SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED A SOLICITATION. The risk of loss in trading futures and/or options is substantial and each investor and/or trader must consider whether this is a suitable investment. Past performance, whether actual or indicated by simulated historical tests of strategies, is not indicative of future results. Trading advice is based on information taken from trades and statistical services and other sources that New Frontier Capital Markets believes are reliable. We do not guarantee that such information is accurate or complete and it should not be relied upon as such. Trading advice reflects our good faith judgment at a specific time and is subject to change without notice. There is no guarantee that the advice we give will result in profitable trades.}