Hogs Down Triple Digits

Lean hog futures are trading triple digits weaker through midday, with losses of as much as $1.65. The April contract is the exception, trading 20 cents higher. The National Average Base Hog price for Thursday morning was $105.19, down by 98 cents. The CME Lean Hog Index was $101.77 on 3/21, down by 3 cents. 

FAS Export Sales data showed 23,175 MT of pork was sold during the week that ended 3/17. That was down 40% from last week and from the same week last year. Pork exports were 29,091 MT during the week, leaving the total at 319,877 MT. 

The monthly Cold Storage data from NASS showed 480.354m lbs of pork in the freezer for February. That was up nearly 50m lbs from January, but was still the lightest for Feb since 2004. Belly stocks specifically were 50.1399m lbs, or a 33.5% increase yr/yr. 

Pork cutout futures are down 10 to 67 cents on light OI. USDA’s National Pork Carcass Cutout Value for Thursday morning was $2.23 higher to $108.62. USDA estimates the WTD FI hog slaughter at 478k head. That is down form 480k last week and from 488k head during the same week last year. 

Apr 22 Hogs  are at $102.675, up $0.125,

May 22 Hogs  are at $113.000, down $1.650

Apr 22 Pork Cutout  is at $108.100, down $0.100,