CHICAGO, Jan 16 (Reuters) - Chicago Mercantile Exchange cattle futures firmed on Tuesday amid technical trading, as traders kept a close eye on rising boxed beef prices and how extreme winter weather was impacting the slaughter pace, analysts said.
Lean hog futures eased on the day under ongoing pressure from ample supplies, traders said.
Most-active CME February live cattle futures settled up 1.750 cents at 173.125 cents per pound. March feeder cattle finished up 1.125 cents at 228.825 cents per pound.
CME most-active February lean hog futures finished down 1.125 cent at 70.775 cents per pound.
The U.S. market was closed on Monday for the Martin Luther King Day holiday.
An Arctic blast gripped much of the U.S. on Tuesday, with extreme cold stressing beef and dairy cattle herds, and causing concerns for poultry and hog operators who are closely monitoring the temperatures inside their barns, analysts said.
Such cold temperatures can be a double-edged sword for the cattle market, said Don Roose, president of Iowa-based U.S. Commodities.
While a slower kill rate can be a supportive price indicator, Roose said, "with weather like this, people aren't going out and out to eat as much. So the question is, are they eating as much beef at home?"
Representatives of cattle industry groups in Kansas and Nebraska, two major beef states, said they were not aware of mass cattle deaths due to the cold. But the cold has curtailed cattle weight gain, and impacted livestock and feed transportation.
Tyson Foods said it temporarily scaled back meatpacking operations at some U.S. facilities for employees' safety and is working to fulfill customer orders at other locations.
And major beef processors such as Cargill and JBS USA canceled cattle deliveries and rescheduled them, said Chad Engle, a cattle feeder in Fairmont, Nebraska.
The companies did not immediately respond to requests for comment. (Reporting by P.J. Huffstutter in Chicago; Editing by David Gregorio)
