Lean hog futures experienced a significant increase on Thursday, with contracts rising between $1.90 to $2.30 by market close. The USDA did not report the national base hog price due to light trading volume, while the CME Lean Hog Index fell by 11 cents to $80.39 as of January 13.
According to the USDA’s Export Sales data released for the week of January 8, pork bookings totaled 26,826 MT, with Mexico being the largest buyer at 9,200 MT, followed by Japan at 5,200 MT. Total shipments reached 40,672 MT, led by Mexico at 21,000 MT. Additionally, USDA reported a hog slaughter estimate of 492,000 head on Thursday, bringing the weekly total to 1.973 million, which is 7,000 head above the previous week and 46,901 head higher than the same period last year.
February 26 hogs closed at $87.80, up $2.10; April 26 hogs closed at $95.00, up $2.30; and May 26 hogs closed at $98.475, up $1.90.
