LIVESTOCK-Cattle futures fall 2% on profit-taking after record highs

By Julie Ingwersen

CHICAGO, June 13 (Reuters) - Benchmark live cattle futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange tumbled 2.1% on Friday as rising crude oil prices and geopolitical instability raised worries about consumer demand for meat, prompting speculators to take profits after the market soared to all-time highs this week, analysts said.

Most-active August live cattle futures LCQ25 settled down 4.500 cents at 212.450 cents per pound. The thinly traded June contract LCM25 ended down 3.100 cents at 225.100 cents per pound, a day after reaching 229.125 cents, the highest-ever reading on a continuous chart LCc1 of the front contract.

CME August feeder cattle futures FCQ25 closed Friday down 4.825 cents at 306.425 cents per pound.

Firm cash cattle markets, tight U.S. cattle supplies and historically high wholesale beef prices propelled cattle futures higher this week.

But Friday's 7% jump in crude oil CLc1 futures, after Israel launched military strikes on Iran, appeared to trigger a round of profit-taking. Commodity funds hold hefty net long positions in CME live cattle and lean hog futures, leaving both markets prone to bouts of long liquidation.

"High crude oil prices are not necessarily good for meat demand... and the long side of the market has been loaded up," said Doug Houghton, an analyst at Brock Associates.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture priced choice cuts of beef on Friday afternoon at $377.88 per hundredweight, up $1.16 from Thursday, and select cuts rose 43 cents to $363.50 per cwt. Both readings were the highest in five years. Beef demand typically reaches a seasonal top around the Father's Day and Fourth of July holidays, analysts said.

CME hog futures ended mixed, holding near life-of-contract highs set this week as robust cash hog markets and wholesale pork prices continued to underpin the market.

July lean hogs LHN25 settled up 0.575 cent at 109.475 cents per pound while August hogs LHQ25 finished down 0.050 cent at 110.125 cents.

The USDA priced pork carcasses on Friday afternoon at $118.06 per cwt, up $3.56 from Thursday.

Meanwhile, China approved 106 new U.S. pork and poultry plants to export eligible products produced on or after June 12, Chinese Customs said in a notice on its website. Hundreds of U.S. meat plants gained access to China under the 2020 "Phase 1" trade deal brokered by President Donald Trump, but many lost their eligibility earlier this year.