Hogs Rally into the Weekend
Friday’s hog market closed with 50 to 75 cent gains, which left the Feb contract up by $4.17 for the week to levels not seen since late Nov. USDA’s National Average Base Hog price increased by $1.64 to $56.27. The CME Lean Hog Index was $69.67 on 1/24, up by another 28 cents.
CFTC reported the managed money funds were net new buyers in lean hogs during the week that ended 1/23. That left flipped the group back to a 2,483 contract net long for Tuesday’s settle. That followed a 9-week net short.
China reported their hog herd at 434.22 million head for the end of 2023, which was down 4.1% from last year. The Ag Ministry had the sow herd at 41.42m head, down 5.7% yr/yr.
Pork cutout futures were 10c to 65 cents higher across the front months, ending the week with a $2.05 gain. USDA’s National Pork Carcass Cutout Value for Friday afternoon was 60 cents stronger to $89.51. USDA reported 592.3 million lbs of pork was produced during the week, with 2.719m head of hogs harvested. Slaughter was 3.4% above last week and pork output was up by 3.7%.
Feb 24 Hogs closed at $74.925, up $0.625,
Apr 24 Hogs closed at $83.250, up $0.700
Feb 24 Pork Cutout closed at $87.450, up $0.100,
On the date of publication, Alan Brugler did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. For more information please view the Barchart Disclosure Policy here.
