**Lean hog futures showed mixed results on Thursday, January 26.** Nearby February contracts fell by 25 cents, while other contracts increased by 30 to 45 points. The USDA reported a national base hog price of $84.38, down $1.90 from the previous day. The CME Lean Hog Index rose by 79 cents to $85.22 as of January 27.
In export news, USDA’s report indicated pork sales reached 55,980 metric tons for the week ending January 22, with Mexico accounting for 28,300 metric tons and China for 15,900 metric tons. Total shipments for that week were recorded at 35,923 metric tons.
Additionally, pork exports for November totaled 613.1 million pounds, marking a 4.9% decline compared to the previous year. The USDA’s pork carcass cutout value decreased by $1.62 to $93.43 per hundredweight, while estimated federally inspected hog slaughter stood at 495,000 head on Thursday, resulting in a weekly total of 1.877 million head, 9,000 head lower than last week and 56,348 head below the same week last year.
