The US hide sellers began the week with the prospect of narrowing margins with shipping rates up by reprted up by as much as 300% by CNBC. Chinese tanneries have slowed business activity and some have started shutting down, as Chinese Lunar New Year is now two weeks away.   

The Jacobsen slaughter forecast for this week is 650,000 head, and if realized, will be 12,400 head more than the same week last year when it was 637,600.

Cattle slaughter finished last week 657,000 head, up 2 percent from a year ago. Over the next six weeks, slaughter is forecasted at an average of 632,500 head, up an average of 6.8 percent from the prior six weeks and up less than 1 percent compared to last year.

Figure 1. 

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