Live cattle futures rise after August US feedlot placements miss

By Tom Polansek CHICAGO, Sept 21 (Reuters) — Live cattle and feeder cattle futures climbed on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange CME on Monday after placements of livestock into US feedlots in August fell short of expectations, analysts said. The US Department of Agriculture, in a report released after Friday's market close, said 1.617 million cattle were placed in feedlots in August, down 9% year-on-year and the lowest August total in records dating to 1996. Analysts, on average, had expected a 3.3% drop, according to a Reuters poll. Lower-than-expected placements were a reminder of tight supplies when trading resumed on Monday, traders said. CME October live cattle futures settled up 5.025 cents at 220.950 cents per pound. Benchmark December cattle ended up 5.375 cents at 222.000 cents a pound. CME feeder cattle futures also soared, with the most-active October contract finishing up 6.750 cents at 330.250 cents per pound. Cash cattle traded at $225 and $226 per hundredweight after USDA issued its report, brokers said, describing the prices as solid. This week, cash prices are expected to rise, they said. In August, placements slowed as declining cattle prices and climbing grain costs discouraged transactions, analysts said. Market participants were waiting to see what happened with cattle prices, said Kyle Bumsted, livestock analyst for Allendale. Cattle prices suffered last month when US President Donald Trump encouraged low-cost imports of ground beef and the USDA began to resume imports of cattle from Mexico. Grain prices, meanwhile, jumped as the Ukraine war disrupted exports from the Black Sea region and traders worried about the size of the US corn crop. The rally raised feeding costs, analysts said. In CME's lean hog market, October futures settled up 0.05 cent at 78.150 cents per pound. Most-active December hogs ended up 1.250 cents at 69.800 cents after hitting a contract low at 68.275 cents on Friday. The USDA is scheduled to issue quarterly Hogs and Pigs data on Thursday. (Reporting by Tom Polansek in Chicago; Editing by Perla Velasco) ((Thomas.Polansek@thomsonreuters.com)