Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange lean hog futures rose in thin trade on Thursday to halt a three-session slide, buoyed by firming cash hog markets and higher wholesale pork prices, analysts said.
Most-active February hog futures settled up 1.025 cents at 80.35 cents/lb. (all figures US$). Trading volume for all months was estimated by CME at 19,460 contracts, which would be the lowest for hogs since December 2020 if confirmed in final figures.
The CME’s lean hog index, a two-day weighted average of cash hog prices, rose to 72.3 cents/lb., a three-week top.
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As the harvest in southern Alberta presses on, a broker said that is one of the factors pulling feed prices lower in the region. Darcy Haley, vice-president of Ag Value Brokers in Lethbridge, added that lower cattle numbers in feedlots, plentiful amounts of grass for cattle to graze and a lacklustre export market also weighed on feed prices.
“The cash tone has been firming, and the cutout was up at midday. I don’t think there was a lot of news in the market,” said Doug Houghton, an analyst with Brock Capital Management.
U.S. wholesale pork values rose to their highest in a month, with the cutout priced at $91.49 per hundredweight (cwt), up $3.66 from Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported.
Traders have also begun adjusting positions ahead of USDA’s quarterly hogs and pigs report which is scheduled for release on Dec. 23.
In the cattle markets, live cattle futures closed mostly higher. The CME February contract settled up 0.475 cent at 137.05 cents/lb., rallying on bargain-buying after finding chart support below its 100-day moving average near 136 cents.
CME January feeder cattle futures ended down 0.85 cent at 162.575 cents/lb. and March feeders fell 0.15 cent to 164.325 cents, losing ground to back months on spreads.
Wholesale boxed beef prices firmed, pausing after a six-week slide, with choice cuts up $2.71 at $262.97/cwt, according to USDA.
— Julie Ingwersen is a Reuters commodities correspondent in Chicago.
