Lean hog futures declined on Friday, with contracts falling between 20 to 77 cents, led by April futures dropping $2.175 for the week. The USDA reported a national base hog price of $90.38, down $2.42 from the previous day, while the CME Lean Hog Index rose by 11 cents to $92.04 on March 18.
The CFTC Commitment of Traders report for March 17 indicated a reduction of 11,151 contracts from the speculative fund net long position in lean hog futures and options, bringing the total net long to 116,553 contracts. Additionally, USDA noted a pork carcass cutout value increase of $1.15 to $99.20 per cwt, with an estimated federally inspected hog slaughter this week at 2.491 million head—41,000 fewer than the previous week but 66,825 more than the same week last year.
