Lean Hogs Jun '19 (HEM19)

Lean hog futures show mixed trade on Thursday with May up a tick and other contracts down 30 to 40 cents. USDA’s national average base hog negotiated price was down $1.37 from the day prior at $90.22 on Thursday morning. The CME Lean Hog Index was up another 67 cents from the previous day at $86.75 on April 22. 

This morning’s Export Sales report showed just 5,848 MT in pork sales in the week ending on April 24. That was a calendar year low and the lowest for any week since 2020. Japan was the buyer of 6,300 MT, with Mexico buying 3,800 MT and China canceling 12,000 MT. Pork shipments were tallied at 27,129 MT, the second lowest for the year.  Of that total, 10,200 MT was to Mexico, with 4,700 MT to South Korea and 4,600 MT to Japan. 

Thursday morning’s pork cutout value from the USDA was 83 cents higher at $94.81. The picnic and belly primal were the only reported lower. Wednesday’s federally inspected hog slaughter from USDA was estimated at 488,000 head, with the week... Read more