Lean hog futures were steady to 40 cents higher on Friday, as February was a tick lower this week. USDA’s national base hog price was reported at $67.45 on Friday afternoon, down $1.20 from the day prior. The CME Lean Hog Index was up 1 cent on December 17 at $83.88.
Spec traders were busy adding back to their net long in the week ending on December 9, according to CFTC data. The net long was back up 4,821 contracts to 51,471 contracts in that week.
USDA’s pork carcass cutout value from the Friday AM report was $2.22 higher at $99.76 per cwt. The loin was the only primal reported lower. USDA estimated federally inspected hog slaughter for this week at 2.683 million head. That was 39,000 head below last week but 97,673 head above the same week last year.
Feb 26 Hogs closed at $84.500, up $0.375,
Apr 26 Hogs closed at $89.125, up $0.175
May 26 Hogs closed at $92.925, up $0.050,
