Hog Bulls Rebound and Move Upward on Wednesday

Lean Hog Futures Edge Higher

On Wednesday, front-month lean hog futures finished the day steady to up by as much as 45 cents. The USDA reported the national base hog price at $85.13 in the afternoon, marking a $4.94 increase from the previous day. Meanwhile, the CME Lean Hog Index climbed 27 cents to reach $82.03 as of January 19.

The USDA’s Wednesday evening update showed the pork carcass cutout value rising by 51 cents to $93.98 per hundredweight. However, the butt and picnic primal cuts saw declines. Federally inspected hog slaughter for the day was estimated at 495,000 head, bringing the weekly total to 1.404 million after Tuesday’s figure was revised down by 4,000. This week’s slaughter is 77,000 head fewer than last week, but still 64,132 head above the same period a year ago.

Recent Hog Futures Settlements

• February 26 Hogs settled at $87.850, unchanged.
• April 26 Hogs ended at $95.600, up $0.425.
• May 26 Hogs closed at $99.275, an increase of $0.275.