Lean hog futures saw strength on Thursday with contracts up 85 cents to $1.85. USDA’s national base hog price was reported at $71.69 on Thursday afternoon, up $1.64 from the day prior. The CME Lean Hog Index was up 27 cents on December 8 at $82.16.
USDA’s Export Sales report for the week ending on November 13 was released this morning, with pork sales of 23,606 MT for 2025 and 3,947 MT for 2026. Export shipments were 32,132 MT, which was the highest since June.
Census data converted to a carcass basis showed 545.28 million lbs of pork exports in September. That was down 0.8% from last year’s September record and 0.5% above the August total.
USDA’s pork carcass cutout value from the Thursday PM report was $1.57 higher to $98.84 per cwt. All primals were reported higher, led by the butt and belly. USDA estimated federally inspected hog slaughter for Thursday at 494,000 head, taking the week to date total to 1.965 million head. That was 22,000 head above last week and 37,121 head above the same week last year.
Dec 25 Hogs closed at $83.400, up $0.950,
Feb 26 Hogs closed at $84.175, up $1.750
Apr 26 Hogs closed at $89.225, up $1.850,
