Beef Market Commentary for the Week Ending on May 11, 2024

1. Week Summary

• This week's story.

The prices of cattle remained steady at $1.86 and the value of Select Cutout decreased 1 cent while Choice Cutout increased 2 cents. Production increased by 3 million pounds compared to the previous week’s figures. Estimated Gross Packer Margins continued decreasing. This week they went from $59.8 to $28.1

• Cutouts.

  • The Choice Cutout closed at $2.97, +2 cents higher (+0.68%) than previous week and -12 cents lower (-3.88%) than the same week last year, when the reported figure was $3.09.(See chart).
  • The Select Cutout closed at $2.88, -1 cent lower (-0.35%) than previous week, and at the same value than the same week last year (ending on May 11th). (See chart).

• Meat production.

Meat production under federal inspection was 527 million pounds, +3 million pounds higher (+0.57%) than previous week and +20 million pounds higher (+3.94%) than the same week in 2023.

• • This week slaughter was 622 thousand, +3 thousand higher (+0.48%) vs prior week and -1.1 thousand lower (-0.18%) vs same week in 2023.
  • Dressed weights for the week closed at 848 pounds per head, same value than prior week and +29 pounds higher (+3.54%) vs same week in 2023. This is the highest value in the past five years for this week (ending on May 11th).

See chart.

• Cattle prices.

Prices of cattle continued to rise, with the negotiated cash price for Steer: Live FOB/5-Area/Over 80% Choice closing at $1.86, same value than previous week, and +11 cents higher (+6.29%) than in 2023 for the same week (See chart).

• Gross Packer Margins.

Our estimate for Gross Packer Margins for the week was $28.1 per head, -$31.7 (-53.01%) vs prior week and -$205.9 (-87.99%) vs same week in 2023. This is the lowest value in the past five years for this week (ending on May 11th) (See chart).

*Gross Packer Margin data is only available in our Advanced Analytics suite.

2. Looking ahead

• Live Cattle Futures for June 2024 contracts closed at $1.76. For August 2024 contracts the price closed at $1.74.  
• Our 8-week forecast puts the Choice Cutout price at $2.83, -$0.14 than the current week, and the Select Cutout price at $2.74, -$0.14 than the current week.

See chart. 

*Forecasts for specific meats cuts are only available in our Advanced Analytics suite.

3. Mark your calendar

Event	Dates	Location
Animal Care & Handling Conference	May 16-17, 2024	Kansas, USA
National Restaurant Association Show	May 18-21, 2024	Chicago, USA
2024 SIAL Shanghai	May 28-30, 2024	Shanghai, China

*You can find a more comprehensive list of industry events in our Events section (https://emeat.io/dashboard/events).

For more details you may consult EMEAT's Weekly Commodity Recap.