Lean hog futures experienced a decline on Friday, closing down between 10 to 25 cents for nearby contracts. The USDA reported a national base hog price of $83.56, an increase of 47 cents from the previous day, while the CME Lean Hog Index rose by 67 cents to $83.07 on January 21.
In export data, 33,249 metric tons of pork were sold in the week ending January 15, with shipments totaling 39,223 metric tons. Additionally, monthly cold storage figures indicated pork stocks at 390.55 million pounds, reflecting a 1.5% decrease from the previous year and marking the lowest December levels since 1997.
USDA’s slaughter estimates showed a total of 2.484 million hogs processed last week, which is 139,000 head down from the previous week but 10,192 head up from the same week last year. Commitment of Traders data revealed that managed money increased their net long in lean hog futures and options by 14,794 contracts, bringing the total to 97,418, the highest since October.
