There were a fair amount of sales of raw hides and wet blues last week. Prices paid by buyers for most Steer hide selections were steady, and there may have been a few marginally higher or lower, but by no more than $1.00 up or down on any item. We don’t think there were as many pieces traded as during each of the two weeks prior, but still we expect most suppliers sold a week’s production or close to it. On the supply side, cattle slaughter was up a touch from the week’s earlier number, and down just a bit from the same weekly period a year ago. At the end of the week, there remained some tanner orders in the market, but most were $1.00 to $3.00 below the traded levels. For the week we will call Big Packer quality Steer hide FOB plant prices unchanged. Heavy Native Steer hides depending on origin were traded at between $68.00 and $70.00, and Butt Branded Steer hide values remained at the $67.00 to $68.00 per piece level. Heavy Texas Steer hides also were reported to have sold at steady money in a wide range between $57.00 and $61.00 per piece FOB plant. Some origins are more highly valued by tanners than others. Tanner’s interest in Cow hides seemed to have waned somewhat last week. Good interest from furniture leather tanners resulted in some price increases on the Plump Native Cow hide selection. Plump Branded Cow hides found fewer buyers, and they all seemed to be bidding down $1.00 or $2.00 per hide. Those bids found few if any sellers willing to accept them. Native Dairy Cow hide producers also found upholstery willing to pay steady to slightly higher prices, but any Branded Dairy Cow hides were not in demand and any interest in these Branded hides were for steady prices at best. All in all, last week was a decent one for both sellers and buyers. Each seemed satisfied with what they got done.
The Export Sales Report released by the USDA on November 5, 2015 covering the week ending Thursday October 28, 2015 indicated that 889,700 cattle hides and wet blue equivalents were sold for export during that week. That total is up by over 50,000 pieces from the 832,100 units reportedly sold the prior week. So we have had two pretty big sales weeks in a row. The big buyer last week was China which took 516,600 pieces. The second biggest purchaser was Korea with 120,500 hides and wet blue equivalents bought.
The Federally Inspected Slaughter (FIS) for the week ending Saturday November 7, 2015 was an estimated 563,000 cattle, was up 10,000 head from the prior week’s estimated FIS of 553,000 animals processed. For the same week last year the FIS was 568,025 animals. Year-to-date FIS is down 5.7 percent or 1,471,000 head from a year ago.
After three fairly busy weeks of trading we expect things may slow down a little this week. Hide and wet blue producers should be in pretty comfortable sold forward positions after the last three weeks of activity. We are guessing most are sold well into the second half of December, if not further, and are looking at reduced production as we approach the holidays here. Thanksgiving will be on November 26th this year, only three weeks away and the week before Thanksgiving normally gives us the lowest FIS of the year. There appear to be fed cattle finished and available for slaughter but the price of those cattle and the demand for beef are not at levels that allow packers to make a profit. Again last week various publications indicated that beef packer margins were negative which usually means reduced slaughter numbers. Tanners for their part, by their purchasing of raw hides and wet blue over the last few weeks, have put on some raw material inventory. They should not feel pressure to follow higher prices that the well sold ahead sellers will most likely be asking. So we look for this week to be less active trading wise than the previous three weeks and we expect hide and wet blue prices will not move far from where the now sit. We will know more about this week come next Monday.
Some Golf Laws
The last three holes of a round will automatically adjust your score to what it really should be.
All 3-woods are demon-possessed. Your Mother in Law does not come close.
