US export sales for week ending 18.01.11
25/01/2011
Courtesy of www.thejacobsen.com
The market’s momentum is carrying the recent wave of high prices forward. A decent amount of sales were made at the end of the week with prices continuing to inch higher. Cow hides and steer hides both climbed upward with BBS, HTS, and HNS plus NHNC and SHNC, all up a dollar on the high points of their trading range. BBS traded for $78 on the top and HTS and HNS at $79.
The most recent weekly sales and shipments reported by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) for the week ending January 6 have both sales and shipment numbers up from the previous week, but lower than the week’s slaughter of 639,000. For the week, combined wet blue and whole hide sales reached 566,600 and shipments 461,000. Although both are solid numbers, their levels are under what would have been expected given the bullish tone in the market. Prior week’s combined sales and shipments were 316,281 and 476,100 respectively.
Lower packer margins improved last week $10 per head to -$33.06 according to the Sterling Beef Profit Tracker. The current margins have been instrumental in reducing US slaughter to seasonal norms over the past couple weeks. Most people agree that the market continues to be steady to firm with enough interest to hold the market up. Steer hides now are trading as high as $77 to $78 for BBS, HTS, and HNS. Some buyers report medium HTS are in short supply with only heavy weights being offered from certain producers. Although natives are beginning to dry up, there are some available.
As hide prices have increased to their current level, buyers are trying to push back and orders are becoming smaller. There are, however, enough sales from week to week keeping producers well sold and prices moving up. Producers generally continue to be bullish but several have recently expressed that the market may be overdone. “As prices keep ascending, the air is getting thinner,” said more than one supplier.
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