Cattle Prices Slump On Signs Of Slowing Meat Demand; Hogs Fall
July 18, 2013 | 1 min to read
Cattle futures fell for the second straight day on speculation that hot weather across the U.S. is reducing meat demand as fewer people grill outdoors. Hogs fell.
Temperatures soared into the 90s Fahrenheit (30s Celsius) this week, and humidity increased along the East Coast, Midwest and southern Canada, according to Commodity Weather Group LLC in Bethesda, Maryland. Wholesale beef fell for the eighth straight session, the longest slump since late March, U.S. Department of Agriculture data show.
“Heat waves are never good for meat demand,” Lawrence Kane, a senior market adviser at Stewart-Peterson Group, said in a telephone interview from Yates City, Illinois. “We had a lousy start to grilling season because of rainy weather. Now, if we have an extended heat weave, it’s going to keep some people in.”
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