The US hide market began the week with a quiet tone as sellers put together their offer lists. One big packer offered product out with one month delivery, much more than what was offered the previous week. Packer beef margins for last week were a positive $894.64 per head versus a positive $873.31 the week before according to HedgersEdge.com. Korean customers were very quiet last week while Chinese customers were the leading interested buyers. 

Cattle slaughter rebounded last week with a 23.6 percent growth week-over-week with an estimated slaughter of 665,000 head. The previously week’s slaughter of 538,000 head was due to the long Memorial Day weekend combined with JBS closures. Cattle slaughter this week is anticipated to show a modest 2.3 percent decrease from last week with a 660,000 head slaughter. For the next 6 weeks, slaughter is expected to remain…