Lean hog futures closed the day with gains of $1.52 to $2.25. For April the $2.25 rally brought futures to the highest price level since Oct-Dec of 2019 (LOC high @ $77.10 11/5). Pork cutout futures ended the session with gains of $1.35 to $2.95. The 1/19 CME Lean Hog Index was 25 cents lower to $65.67. USDA’s National Average Base Hog price was up 56 cents to $55.46 on Friday PM. USDA reported 45,172 MT of pork export sales booked in the week ending 1/14. That was the largest weekly export sale since the end of September. The National Pork Carcass Cutout value was quoted at $82.83 in the PM report, up by $2.57. Weekly CFTC data showed lean hog spec traders were 2,664 contracts less net long to 36,078. A new outbreak of ASF was confirmed by China’s Ministry of Ag and Rural Affairs. The outbreak was in Guangdong on a 1,015 head farm, with 214 hogs killed. USDA estimates the week’s hog slaughter at 2.738m head through Saturday. YTD slaughter is 8.2% behind last year’s pace with 8.535m head slaughtered. Much of that differential is due to holiday timing and will smooth out.
| Feb 21 Hogs closed at $69.925, up $1.825, |
| Apr 21 Hogs closed at $76.150, up $2.250 |
| May 21 Hogs closed at $80.525, up $2.050 |
| Feb 21 Pork Cutout closed at $81.825, up $2.950, |
--- provided by Brugler Marketing & Management
