Lean hog futures experienced declines ranging from 20 to 92 cents on Wednesday as trading activity slowed ahead of the holiday break. The USDA’s national base hog price was not reported due to reduced trading volume, while the CME Lean Hog Index registered a slight increase of one cent on December 22, reaching $83.72. The CME will reopen on Friday, with no trading occurring Thursday.
The NASS’s quarterly Hogs & Pigs report revealed that the December 1 hog inventory totaled 75.55 million head, a 0.63% increase from the previous year. Market hogs increased by 0.75% to 69.59 million heads, while breeding hogs saw a decrease of 0.87%, totaling 5.952 million. Additionally, pork stocks were reported at 371.27 million lbs as of November 30, marking the lowest November total since 1997.
On Wednesday, USDA reported a pork carcass cutout value of $93.66 per cwt, down $3.03, influenced by lower prices across several primal cuts. The federally inspected hog slaughter for the day was estimated at 170,000 head, contributing to a weekly total of 1.153 million, which is 309,000 head below the previous week but still higher than the same week last year.
