Hogs Higher as Cutout Strengthens

Lean hog futures are up 37 to 60 cents at midday.  The national average base hog price was reported at $72.03 on Friday morning, down $3.68 from the previous day. The CME Lean Hog Index was reported at $83.84 on October 16, down a penny from the day prior. 

Pork export sales totaled 38,100 MT in the week of October 10, which was a drop of 24.8% from last week. Mexico was the lead buyer of 8,900 MT, with Japan buying 7,800 MT. Export shipments totaled 34,000 MT, a 49.2% increase from the last week. Of that total, 8,900 MT was headed to Mexico, with 7,800 MT on its way to Japan.

USDA’s FOB plant pork cutout value was reported at $97.89 per cwt in the Friday AM release, up $1.48 from the day prior. The loin was the only primal reported lower, with the belly leading the way to the upside and $5.78 higher. USDA estimated Thursday’s FI hog slaughter at 486,000 head, bringing the weekly total at 1.932 million head. That is up 4,000 head from the previous week and 6,334 head from the same week last year.

Dec 24 Hogs  are at $78.050, up $0.375,

Feb 25 Hogs  are at $82.150, up $0.600

Apr 25 Hogs  is at $85.700, up $0.575,

On the date of publication, Austin Schroeder did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. For more information please view the Barchart Disclosure Policy here.