Lean hog futures rose on Friday, with contracts increasing by 20 to 50 cents, culminating in a $2.97 gain for February futures. The USDA reported the national base hog price at $74.78, while the CME Lean Hog Index edged up 11 cents to $80.50 as of January 13. The markets will be closed on January 16 for the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday.
Additionally, the Commitment of Traders data indicated that speculators increased their net long position by 766 contracts, bringing the total to 82,624 contracts. The USDA also reported a pork carcass cutout value of $93.63 per cwt, a slight increase of 3 cents, with an estimated federally inspected hog slaughter of 2.623 million head this week—60,000 head lower than the previous week but 4,066 head higher than the same week last year.
