On Thursday, lean hog prices showed minor losses, with front-month contracts down 45 cents. Preliminary open interest increased by 6,624 contracts from Wednesday, while the national average base hog price remained unreported due to light trading volume, settling at a 5-day rolling average of $83. The CME Lean Hog Index for October 29 was recorded at $85.78, marking a slight increase of 5 cents from the previous day.
Pork export sales reached 44,838 metric tons for the week ending October 24, the highest in three weeks. Mexico was the leading buyer with 17,700 MT, while 10,400 MT were sold to China. Export shipments totaled 32,268 MT, with notable quantities sent to Mexico (11,400 MT) and Japan (4,100 MT). Additionally, the USDA reported a rise in the FOB plant pork cutout value, which increased by 70 cents to $102.31 per cwt.
USDA’s preliminary slaughter estimate for Wednesday stood at 488,000 hogs, totaling 1.464 million for the week, down by 1,000 from the previous week but surpassing last year’s figures by 25,030 head.
