Cattle futures plunged from a 27- month high on speculation that rising beef prices will slow meat demand and force processors to reduce animal purchases. Hog futures were little changed.
Wholesale choice-beef prices rose yesterday to the highest since May 26, and steers for immediate delivery at slaughtering plants last week were 26 percent more expensive on average than a year earlier, government data show. Cattle futures have jumped 21 percent this year and beef prices gained 19 percent.
“We may have run out of buyers at the retail level, not just the futures level,” said Doug Harper, an analyst at Richard A. Brock & Associates in Milwaukee.
Cattle futures for February delivery dropped 1.875 cents, or 1.8 percent, to settle at $1.0455 a pound at 1:10 p.m. on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, the biggest decline since Sept. 22. Earlier, the commodity reached $1.07325, the highest for a most- active contract since Aug. 15, 2008.
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