Live cattle futures saw weaker trade on Tuesday, with contracts down $1.05 to $1.90 on the session. Cash trade has been quiet so far this week, with a few $229 sales reported early in KS, steady to $1 higher than last week. The Tuesday Fed Cattle Exchange showed no sales on the 1,734 head offered, with bids at $225-227.50. Feeder cattle posted losses of $1.30 to $1.90 at the close. CME’s Feeder Cattle Index was up another $1.17 to $353.08 on December 22.

NASS Cold Storage data from this afternoon showed 425.5 million lbs of beef stocks at the end of November, which was down 3.42% from last year and the smallest November total since 2014.

Commitment of Traders data showed managed money adding 3,013 contracts to the spec net long in the week ending on December 16 to 91,303 contracts in live cattle futures and options. In feeder cattle, managed money trimmed 167 contracts from their net long as of last Tuesday to 14,094 contracts.

Export Sales data showed 8,776 MT of beef sold in the week ending on 12/11, back down from the week prior. Export Shipments were 14,930 MT in that week, a 3-week high.

USDA Wholesale Boxed Beef prices were lower in the Tuesday afternoon report, with the Chc/Sel spread narrowing to $6.18. Choice boxes were down $7.10 to $355.77, while Select was $1.10 higher at $349.59. USDA federally inspected cattle slaughter was estimated at 123,000 head for Tuesday, with the week to date total at 244,000 head. That was 13,000 head above last week.

Dec 25 Live Cattle  closed at $228.825, down $1.900,

Feb 26 Live Cattle  closed at $230.000, down $1.425,

Apr 26 Live Cattle  closed at $230.025, down $1.050,

Jan 26 Feeder Cattle  closed at $344.625, down $1.875,

Mar 26 Feeder Cattle  closed at $339.000, down $1.500,

Apr 26 Feeder Cattle  closed at $337.675, down $1.325,