Hogs Mixed on Thursday, with Stronger Cash and a Weaker Cutout

Veterinarian standing next to a pig pen by dusanpetkovic via iStock

Lean Hog futures settled the Thursday session with contracts mixed, as most were up 10 to 45 cents and nearby December was down 92 cents. The national average base hog price was reported at $85.03 on Thursday afternoon, an increase of $2.31 from the previous day. The CME Lean Hog Index was reported at $90.24 on November 5, up 45 cents from the day prior. 

Weekly Export Sales data indicated a net reduction go 14,675 MT of pork bookings in the week of October 31. Most of the net reductions were by Mexico at 7,700 MT, with China cancelling 5,000 MT, and Australia seeing net reductions of 1,200 MT.  Export shipments were a 26-week high at 34,977 MT in that week. South Korea was the destination of 4,100 MT, with 3,100 MT shipped to Japan.

USDA’s FOB plant pork cutout value was sharply lower in the Thursday PM report, down $4.19 at $97.96 per cwt. The rib, ham, and belly primals were reported lower, with the latter the driver, down $17.05. USDA estimated the Thursday FI hog slaughter at 481,000 head, with the weekly total at 1.946 million head. That is now 4,000 head below the previous week but 10,823 head above the same week last year.

Dec 24 Hogs  closed at $81.200, down $0.925,

Feb 25 Hogs  closed at $85.300, up $0.150

Apr 25 Hogs  closed at $89.175, up $0.450,


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.