The US hide market was fairly busy last week for buyers and sellers. Overall, hide prices traded sideways without many significant changes. Again, the main concern is the shipping issues overseas in Asia. The rise in cases have brought more lockdowns in tanning areas and the soon celebration of Chinese Lunar New Year have added to the uncertainty of transporting material through the area. 

The Jacobsen slaughter forecast for this week is 640,000 head, and if realized, will be 7,000 head more than the same week last year when it was 633,000.

Cattle slaughter finished last week 651,000 head, up 1.3 percent from a year ago. Over the next six weeks, slaughter is forecasted at an average of 621,700 head, up an average of 4.3…