Lean Hog Futures Show Steady Gains as Pork Prices Rise

Hog Prices and Stock Levels Update

Lean hog futures ended Friday with an increase of 7 cents, reaching $1.02 across most contracts. The national average base hog price rose to $75.66, showing a gain of 41 cents compared to the previous day. Additionally, the CME Lean Hog Index was reported at $85.20 on October 23, marking an increase of 54 cents from the day before.

Pork Inventory Shows Seasonal Trends

The monthly Cold Storage report revealed that pork stocks totaled 460.141 million pounds at the end of September. This figure is the lowest for September since 2010. However, it reflects a seasonal rise of 1.07% from the end of August.

Speculator Activity and Slaughter Numbers

According to CFTC data, speculators in lean hog futures and options have added 12,126 contracts to their net long position, bringing the total to 87,126 contracts as of October 22. The USDA reported the FOB plant pork cutout value at $98.94 per hundredweight in the Friday PM update, an increase of 79 cents from the prior day. Notably, the belly cut led the increase with gains of $8.31. Moreover, the USDA estimated this week’s federal inspected (FI) hog slaughter at 2.593 million head, which is a decrease of 19,000 head from last week and 18,132 head lower than the same week last year, partly due to a slower Saturday kill.

Future Contracts Performance

Dec 24 Hogs closed at $79.675, up $1.025.

Feb 25 Hogs closed at $83.425, up $0.625.

Apr 25 Hogs closed at $86.650, up $0.400.

On the date of publication, Austin Schroeder did not hold (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article are solely for informational purposes. For more information, please view the Barchart Disclosure Policy here.

The views and opinions expressed herein are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.