Lean hog futures were in rally mode on Friday, as contracts were up $1.40 to $2.50 on the day. October was up $3.52 last week. Preliminary open interest showed new buying, up 5,485 contracts on Friday. USDA’s national base hog prices from the Friday afternoon report were down $1.32 from the day prior at $103.18. The CME Lean Hog Index was back up a 6 cents on September 24 at $105.06.
The Friday afternoon Commitment of Traders report showed managed money increasing their record net long position and lean hog futures and options by 186 contracts as of Tuesday, taking it to 142,444 contracts.
Cold Storage data showed pork stocks at the end of August the lowest since 2010 at 393.89 million lbs. That was a 2.65% drop from the end of July and 13.48% below last year.
NASS released their quarterly Hogs & Pigs report on Thursday, with September 1 inventory down 1.35% from last year at 74.472 million head, well below estimates calling for a slight increase. Hogs kept for breeding saw a drop of 1.82% to 5.934 million head, below estimates, with the market hog inventory falling 1.31% vs. last year to 68.538 million head.
USDA’s FOB plant pork cutout report from Friday afternoon shot higher by $2.53 at $113.52 per cwt. All primals were reported higher. USDA estimated federally inspected hog slaughter at 2.537 million head last week. That was down 15,000 head from last week and 18,081 head below the same week last year.
Oct 25 Hogs closed at $101.500, up $1.400,
Dec 25 Hogs closed at $91.050, up $2.425
Feb 26 Hogs closed at $92.175, up $2.250,
