Lean hog futures were down 35 to 57 cents in the front months on Wednesday, with other contracts up 40 cents to $1.10. Open interest was down 662 contracts on Wednesday, suggesting a rotation of ownership. USDA’s national base hog price was reported at $92.27 on Wednesday afternoon, down 38 cents from the day prior. The CME Lean Hog Index was back up 14 cents on April 20 at $90.51.
USDA’s pork carcass cutout value from the Wednesday PM report was down 79 cents at $98.55 per cwt. The butt and rib primals were the only reported higher. USDA estimated Thursday’s federally inspected hog slaughter at 495,000 head, taking the week’s total to 1.476 million head. That is down 1,000 head from the previous week and 166,867 head above the same week last year.
May 26 Hogs closed at $95.050, down $0.350,
Jun 26 Hogs closed at $102.625, down $0.575
Jul 26 Hogs closed at $105.700, up $0.475,
