August live cattle futures may fall as much as 7.4 percent by June as export demand slows and retail beef prices at a record prompt U.S. consumers to buy more lower- cost chicken and pork, said Andy Gottschalk, a vice president for R.J. O’Brien & Associates LLC in Denver.
Higher retail meat costs and rising gasoline prices will encourage consumers to spend less on beef, Gottschalk said today during a R.J. O’Brien client conference in Chicago. August cattle futures, which closed at $1.18025 a pound on March 11, may decline to as low as $1.09 by May or June, he said. Futures rose 8.3 percent this year.
“There is a high probability the cattle price this quarter will be the highest” of the year as consumers buy less beef, Gottschalk said.
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