Lean Hog Market Rallies Triple Digits

Save for the Feb contract, the Tuesday session brought triple digit gains for the front month lean hog futures. May was the strongest with a $2.25 gain at the bell, and was above the $100 mark. Feb futures closed 32 cents in the red, and were a $9.52 discount to April going home. More importantly, they were still $6 above the Index. USDA’s National Average Base hog price was delayed due to packer submission errors. The AM quote for Tuesday was $0.31 higher to $67.00. The CME Lean Hog Index from 1/28 was another $1.54 higher to $82.15.    

Pork cutout futures were also up by triple digits, gaining $1.40 to $2.25. The Feb contract was the outlier, having closed just 2 cents higher. USDA’s National Pork Carcass Cutout Value was delayed in the PM report, but was 79 cents weaker this morning at $93.72. USDA’s estimate for federally inspected hog slaughter was 480k head on Tuesday. That sets the week to date kill at 955,000 head, compared to 919k last week and 964k last year.  

Feb 22 Hogs  closed at $88.150, down $0.325,

Apr 22 Hogs  closed at $97.675, up $1.975

Feb 22 Pork Cutout  closed at $97.625, up $0.025,