Pork Futures Prices Rally

Pork futures prices rallied Thursday on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, inspired by expectations that cash market prices have bottomed out and are soon to head higher.

“There’s the feeling that the weakness in the cash markets is over and retailers will soon be paying more attention to pork items,” said Chuck Levitt, an analyst with Shearson Lehman Bros. in Chicago.

Cattle prices were mixed to mostly lower as demand for beef remained sluggish, according to Levitt. “Prices on steer carcasses are within a penny of the year’s low,” he said.

The rally in the pork pits spilled over into the cattle pits and helped to stem steeper losses.

Boding well for meat prices in the longer term is the unusually low level of beef inventories on hand, said Levitt. “And we’re approaching the cookout season when people fire up the grill and throw on the steaks. That should bolster beef prices,” Levitt said.

Wheat and soybeans were higher and corn was mixed on the Chicago Board of Trade.

Grain and bean prices lost ground in early going but rebounded as the U.S. dollar surrendered some of the gains.