Hogs Mostly Higher
Feb futures missed out on the Thursday gains, closing 32 cents in the red. The other front months ended the day up 45 to 82 cents. China confirmed a fresh ASF outbreak in its rebuilding hog herd. Pork cutout futures closed 10 to 50 cents higher. The 1/19 CME Lean Hog Index was 25 cents lower to $65.67. USDA’s National Average Base Hog price was down by another 18 cents to $54.90. The National Pork Carcass Cutout value was quoted at $80.26 on Thursday PM. That was $1.24 higher on the light load day. Bellies were up $13.23. USDA estimated WTD hog slaughter under federal inspection at 1.921 million head. That is 32,000 head higher on the year, but down 57,000 head wk/wk.
--- provided by Brugler Marketing & Management
