Hogs Rally on Friday with Fresh Hogs & Pigs Data Due Monday
Lean hog futures closed out the Friday session with contracts anywhere from 75 cents to $2.30 higher. Feb hogs managed to squeeze out a nickel gain this week. The national average base hog negotiated price was reported at $76.95 on Friday afternoon, down $2.50 from the day prior. The CME Lean Hog Index was reported at $84.21 on December 18, up a nickel from the previous day.
The quarterly Hogs & Pigs report will be released on Monday, assuming there’s no government shutdown, with a Reuters survey of traders calling for all hogs inventory as of December 1 up 0.1% from last year. The number of market hogs is seen up 0.1% from last year with breeding inventory steady.
Commitment of Traders data indicated some long liquidation in the week leading up to December 17, as the spec finds net long was pared back by 8,451 contracts to 122,308 contracts.
USDA’s FOB plant pork cutout value reported back higher on Friday PM, up $1.13 at $97.28 per cwt. The loin and ham primals were the only reported lower, with the belly leading the charge to the upside, $13.51 higher. USDA estimated the weekly FI hog slaughter at 2.581 million head. That is 21,000 head above last week and up 152,448 head from the same week last year.
Feb 25 Hogs closed at $85.925, up $2.300,
Apr 25 Hogs closed at $90.525, up $1.900
May 25 Hogs closed at $94.350, up $1.625,
On the date of publication, Austin Schroeder 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.