Commodities : Monday, Aug. 31, 1987 : Cattle Prices Up on Rumors

Cattle futures prices advanced to contract highs Monday on rumors that Japan may be in the market for U.S. beef. Pork futures also were higher.

Trading in some contracts was disrupted briefly during a breakdown in the computerized external price reporting system at the Commodity Exchange Center in New York.

Four exchanges trade at the center--the New York Mercantile Exchange, the Commodity Exchange, the Cotton Exchange and the Coffee, Sugar and Cocoa Exchange.

Japan bought U.S. beef a couple weeks ago, and while not a lot of trade is involved, the market at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange seemed to respond, said Tom O’Hare, an analyst in New York with Smith Barney.

The Japanese intentions on buying foreign beef are vague, he said, but Tokyo announced earlier that it planned on expanding beef imports, including supplies bought in the United States.

If all the added Japanese beef imports came from the United States, it still would not be a substantial amount, O’Hare said, “but something like this marks a shift in attitude. So if you’re a trader, you don’t want to be short.”