Red Finish for Lean Hogs

Lean hog futures gave back their morning later on Tuesday. At the closing bell the front month contracts were mixed but mostly lower with losses of as much as 25 cents past the October contract. October itself was $1.07 weaker – though still an $8.67 premium to Dec, while May ’23 closed up by a nickel. The USDA National Average Base Hog price for Tuesday was $127.12 after a 77 cent increase. The CME Lean Hog Index from 8/19 was another 31 cents weaker to $119.98. 

Pork cutout futures were also mixed at the close, as the 2023 contracts added 22 to 57 cents to the upside and the nearbys closed $0.22 to $1.32 in the red. USDA’s National Pork Carcass Cutout value dropped $12.53 on Tuesday to $105.08. Bellies were down by nearly $50 cwt. Federally inspected hog slaughter was estimated at 480k head on Tuesday, bringing the WTD slaughter total to 958,000. That compares to 918k last week and 912k head during the same week last year. 

Oct 22 Hogs  closed at $92.900, down $1.075,

Dec 22 Hogs  closed at $84.225, down $0.250

Oct 22 Pork Cutout  closed at $103.300, down $1.325,