US prices take a tumble

In mid-november, the rally in steer prices seemed to come to a halt. And by the end of the latest four week period, prices had plunged, with Texas, branded and Colorado steers the weakest items. Heavy native steers, butts and dairies also declined sharply. Heavy native steers began the four week period at $62 but fell to as low as $57 towards the end. Butt branded steers were in a similar situation, beginning the period at around $63 and falling to $57-55. Heavy Texas steers traded at roughly the same levels as butts. There were unconfirmed reports of $53, and although heavy Texas saw considerably more volume than in previous weeks, most tanners were reluctant to bid in quantity. It was a similar story for branded steers. Asking prices of $60 at the beginning of the period failed to generate many bids by tanners. Two weeks later, prices had fallen marginally to $58-59 but, just 10 days later, prices had dropped as low as $50. Even at such a low price, it does not appear that enough were sold to create enough of a forward sales position for the larger producers. By the end of the four weeks, Colorado steers were moving at a similar level to branded steers, although some reasonable volume appears to have taken place. The cow sector continued to suffer as tanner and manufacturer sales declines in both garment and upholstery leather kept buyers away. Interest in heavy native cows increased slightly over the period with a small quantity averaging 50lb selling at $31-32 depending on origin at the end of the four weeks. Dairies remained in the doldrums with continued reports of poor business emanating from Korea and China. At the beginning of the period, some packer productions traded at $50 on seasonal averages. Towards the end, a small quantity of premium packer productions traded between $51-52, but other producers only saw one or two bids between $47-48. Exports Raw hides reported sold for export averaged 375,975 during the four week period. As a result of the Thanksgiving holiday, the week ending November 22 saw raw hide sales drop 30% on the previous week. South Korea was again the largest buyer with an average 170,525 during the four week period. China followed with 74,150 pieces, then Taiwan with 33,500, Hong Kong with 28,433 and Mexico with 25,625. Thanksgiving also affected wet-blue sales. An average of 115,550 pieces of wet-blue were sold during the four week period. Taiwan took 20,950 pieces and Hong Kong took 19,025. Raw hide exports averaged 472,475, beginning the month at 415,400 and climbing to 532,100 by mid-December. Outstanding raw hides sales averaged 2,701,975, beginning the month at 3,396,900 and ending at 3,754,000.