The US hide market was relatively quiet on Tuesday February 18, with trades for butt branded steers (BBS) and branded steers (BS) at steady levels, while heavy native steers (HNS) traded slightly higher. Market participants reported a lack of factors driving the market, and with shoe tanners absent, trading has been very slow.

Cattle slaughter forecast
Fastmarkets’ research team forecast cattle slaughter at 570,000 head for the week to Saturday February 22, up by 1.6% from the prior week, but down by 3.5% from the year prior.

Over the next six weeks, Fastmarkets’ research team projects cattle slaughter to average 592,500 head per week, up by 0.4% year on year and by 1.11% from the prior six-week average.

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