US Perspective - 2.9.14
Courtesy of The Maxfield Report
Interest on big packer hides slowed as we moved towards the end of the week and based on the sources we spoke with there really was not much happening.
Overall, the trade believes sellers met a fair amount of resistance to higher prices, as sources shared buyers appeared as if they were not ready to consider voluminous purchases, especially at current trading levels. This is leaving members of the trade of the opinion it is unlikely that packers cleared their slaughter this week.
As to how interest broke down this week, buyers found buying regular weight steers a difficult task as offerings were limited, with those willing to sell seeking levels a dollar higher than last week. Meanwhile, we continue to hear that there were moderate offers of Jumbo and Super Jumbo steer hides and according to sources, it appears as if packers were a bit more willing to negotiate prices on these selections.
In regards to trading levels, we have heard of sales on regular weight HTS at $116 and unconfirmed reports of sales as high as $117, while sales on regular weight BS were reflecting similar levels. Meanwhile, we are aware of sales on BBS at levels of $118 delivered and claims of even $119, while sales of HNS reached as high as $120 delivered. The other bright spot for packers is that they were able to achieve some appreciable increases on heifers due to their lack of availability as sales on HBH reached $100 delivered and HNH as high as $104 delivered.
