CHICAGO, Oct 19 (Reuters) - Live cattle futures eased and feeder cattle tumbled to June lows at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange on Thursday as poor margins for U.S. beef processors limited demand for livestock, brokers said.
A marketing-year low in weekly U.S. beef export sales also hung over the market.
Meat companies are grappling with tight U.S. cattle supplies and high beef prices after drought drove ranchers to reduce their herds in recent years. Processors were losing an estimated $52.35 per head of cattle they slaughtered on Thursday, livestock marketing advisory service HedgersEdge.com said.
"The packers don't have a lot of reason to go out there and pull the cattle ahead," a commodity broker said.
CME December live cattle futures settled down 1.9 cents at 185.300 cents per pound and touched their lowest price in more than a week at 184.95 cents.
November feeder cattle futures ended 5.225 cents lower at 244.500 cents per pound and hit their lowest price since June 27 at 243.825 cents. Most-active January feeder cattle settled down 5.525 cents at 245.375 cents per pound and touched their lowest price since June 28 at 244.675 cents.
On Friday, analysts expect the U.S. Department of Agriculture to report the number of cattle in U.S. feedlots on Oct. 1 was down slightly from a year ago. Cattle marketing in September is expected to be down nearly 10% from a year earlier, while placements are seen up slightly.
The USDA said on Thursday that weekly U.S. beef export sales were 400 metric tons for 2023, down 97% from the prior four-week average. For pork, weekly U.S. export sales for 2023 rose 10% from the prior four-week average to 30,700 metric tons.
CME December lean hog futures ended down 0.025 cent at 68 cents per pound and traded near a contract low of 67.3 cents reached on Tuesday. (Reporting by Tom Polansek; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)
