Lean hog futures posted mixed trade on Friday, with contracts within 12 cents of unchanged across the board. December was down just 47 cents last week. USDA’s national base hog price from Friday afternoon was down 82 cents at $85.56. The CME Lean Hog Index was down another 55 cents on October 22 at $93.63.
Heading into the government shutdown, specs were at a record net long. We don’t have CFTC data, though price movement and open interest in the last month would indicate some of those longs have liquidated.
USDA’s pork carcass cutout value from the Friday afternoon report was back up $3.03 to $102.74 per cwt. The picnic was the only primal reported lower, with the belly up $10.23. USDA estimated federally inspected hog slaughter for the week at 2.584 million head. That is down 4,000 head from last week and 7,299 head below the same week last year.
Dec 25 Hogs closed at $81.900, up $0.125,
Feb 26 Hogs closed at $84.300, down $0.050
Apr 26 Hogs closed at $88.950, down $0.025,
