LIVESTOCK-Cattle fall on falling consumer confidence, border re-opening

By Heather Schlitz

CHICAGO, Aug 26 (Reuters) - Chicago Mercantile Exchange live and feeder cattle futures fell on Wednesday under pressure from falling consumer confidence and new imports of Mexican feeder cattle.

The re-opening of the U.S.-Mexico border to cattle imports and the U.S. plan to lift beef import tariffs continued to add a bearish pall to cattle markets.

Roughly 1,300 feeder cattle were imported from Mexico into the United States as of Tuesday, according to the most recently available data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Douglas, Arizona, was the first port to be opened to cattle imports for the first time in over a year.

The USDA plans to open two more New Mexico ports, one in 30 days and another in 60 days. The U.S.-Mexico border has been closed to Mexican cattle, mostly calves and feeder cattle, for over a year due to the spread of the flesh-eating screwworm parasite.

"We're still seeing pressure from the border re-opening and further speculation that we will have the next one in three weeks," said Rich Nelson, analyst at Allendale.

CME October live cattle LCV26 settled 0.175 cent lower to 210.775 cents per pound. CME September feeder cattle futures FCU26 fell 0.275 cent to 319 cents per pound.

President Donald Trump's announcement last week that he would temporarily ease U.S. beef tariffs in an effort to bring down sky-high beef prices drew widespread criticism from Republican lawmakers and industry groups, but no further details have been announced since.

U.S. consumer confidence fell in August to its lowest in seven months as households' outlooks for the labor market and inflation worsened, a survey showed on Tuesday.

The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index dropped to 89.4 this month — the lowest since January — from a downwardly revised 90.2 in July. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the index at 90.2 versus an originally reported 90.8 in July.

The report increased fears that consumers will be less willing to purchase beef, typically one of the priciest proteins available.

The USDA priced choice cuts of boxed beef at $385.13 per hundredweight on Wednesday afternoon, down $3.40 from the previous day, while select cuts fell $6.30 to $362.68 per hundredweight.

The USDA reported wholesale pork carcass values at $95.50 per hundredweight, down $2.12 from a day earlier.

The most actively traded October lean hog contract LHV26 settled 0.45 cents higher to 80.90 cents per pound.

(Reporting by Heather Schlitz; Editing by Joyjeet Das)

((Heather.Schlitz@thomsonreuters.com;))