Commodities : Friday, Aug. 28, 1987 : Cattle Futures Prices Retreat

Cattle futures prices retreated Friday on news that the Agriculture Department was relaxing its ban on Australian beef suspected of containing pesticide residues.

On other markets, pork futures, grain, soybeans, precious metals and oil also moved lower.

Cattle futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange had advanced earlier in the week when the Agriculture Department said some shipments of beef from Australia were contaminated with pesticides.

The USDA said late Thursday, however, that it would not widen its ban to meat processed after May 25, when the Australian government intensified its inspection program. The government also said it would allow the reinspection of beef processed before that date.

“This green light ... gave us more on the supply side of the ledger,” said Chuck Levitt, an analyst with Shearson Lehman Bros.

The futures market also was set back because most of the pre-Labor Day wholesale beef buying has been completed, he said. “The market is looking ahead to what could be sluggish demand next week.”