The week began with a quiet tone across the market. Tanneries in Mexico will begin to close for the holidays starting Friday and remain closed until after the New Year.

Most customers do not have interest in wintertime hides, due to the poor quality, or in buying with shipments to be received during the Lunar New Year. Buying activity is expected to be slow over the next four weeks due to holiday downtime. Hide inventory will build during the next several weeks due to the down time from buyers. 

Cattle Slaughter Forecast

Cattle slaughter is forecast by The Jacobsen at 635,00 head this week, which is unchanged from last week but up 2.04 percent from last year. Cattle slaughter finished last week at an estimated 635,000 head, unchanged from the week prior and down 2.05 percent from last year. Over the next six weeks, slaughter is forecasted at an average of 597,500 head per week, up 0.10 percent from the…