Lean Hog Market Shows Strength as Prices Climb

Closing Prices and Average Negotiated Values

Lean Hog futures ended Wednesday with significant gains, closing up 57 cents at $1.52. The national average base hog negotiated price saw an increase of $2.55 in the afternoon report, reaching $85.04. In contrast, the CME Lean Hog Index, reported on November 18, came in at $88.09, a decline of 40 cents from the previous day.

Pork Cutout Value and Slaughter Estimates

The USDA reported a decrease in the FOB plant pork cutout value, which fell 8 cents to $94.60 per cwt on Wednesday afternoon. Notably, only the picnic and ham primals showed an uptick. The USDA also estimated the Wednesday hog slaughter at 488,000 head, bringing the weekly total to 1.466 million. This figure surpasses last week’s count by 30,000 head and is up 40,468 head compared to the same week last year.

Futures Prices for Hogs

Dec 24 Hogs closed at $80.525, climbing by $0.975.

Feb 25 Hogs ended at $84.475, increasing by $1.600.

Apr 25 Hogs finished at $88.625, marking an uptick of $1.525.

On the date of publication, Austin Schroeder did not hold any direct or indirect positions in the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article are for informational purposes only. For more details, please review the Barchart Disclosure Policy here.

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