Chicago | Reuters—Chicago Mercantile Exchange lean hog futures hit contract highs for a third day in a row on Wednesday as U.S. supplies continued to be tighter than expected, analysts said.
Live cattle and feeder cattle futures eased.
CME December lean hog futures LHZ24 hit a contract high of 84.65 cents per pound before settling up 1.55 cents at 84.375 cents per pound.
The market rose after the first U.S. detection of H5N1 bird flu in a pig temporarily pressured futures, a trader said.
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Traders instead focused on supplies, with U.S. meatpackers slaughtering an estimated 488,000 hogs on Wednesday. That was down from 489,000 hogs a week ago but up from 482,027 hogs a year ago, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
“We’re seeing a slower kill than we thought we had for the hogs,” said Austin Schroeder, commodity analyst with Brugler Marketing and Management.
CME’s Lean Hog Index, a two-day weighted average of cash prices, rose to 85.73 cents per pound, its highest reading in more than seven weeks.
In cattle, futures fell for a second day on lower beef cutout values, said Schroeder.
December live cattle LCZ24 ended down 1.525 cents at 186.425 cents per pound, while November feeder cattle futures FCX24 settled down 1.1 cents at 245.5 cents per pound.
The choice boxed beef cutout fell $1.17 to $319.44 per hundredweight, the USDA reported Wednesday afternoon. Select boxed beef prices dropped $0.64 to $289.32 per cwt.
Once choice boxed beef gets to around $323.00 per hundredweight, said Schroeder, high prices threaten to reduce demand from retailers.
Meanwhile, beef packers were earning an estimated $33.35 per head, down from $54.35 on Tuesday and from $77.75 a week ago, according to livestock marketing advisory service HedgersEdge.
