Lean hog futures are experiencing losses of 25 to 50 cents across most contracts at midday today. The USDA’s national base hog price was not reported due to low trading volume, while the CME Lean Hog Index rose by 32 cents to $89.44 as of February 26.
Data from the CFTC indicates that managed money has added 522 contracts to its net long position in lean hog futures and options, bringing the total to 116,983 contracts. The USDA’s pork carcass cutout value increased by $1.86, reaching $99.63 per cwt. Federally inspected hog slaughter for last week is estimated at 2.516 million head, which is 23,000 head above the previous week but down 9,170 head year-over-year.
Current prices for April, May, and June lean hog futures are $95.275, $99.875, and $109.275, reflecting decreases of $0.450, $0.250, and $0.275, respectively.
