Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange lean hog futures closed higher on Wednesday on bargain buying, a day after the benchmark December contract fell to a 10-month low, traders said.
CME December lean hog futures settled up 2.075 cents at 76.5 cents/lb. (all figures US$). Front-month October hogs ended up 3.8 cents, at 90.8 cents/lb.
Firmer wholesale pork prices lent support. The U.S. Department of Agriculture priced pork carcasses on Wednesday afternoon at $99.29 per hundredweight (cwt), up $1 from Tuesday.
Cash hog prices softened but remained at a premium relative to futures. The CME Lean Hog Index, a two-day weighted average of cash hog prices, fell to $93.44/cwt, its lowest since February.
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Live cattle closed higher, rallying from early declines on technical buying as brokers waited for cash cattle trade to develop. CME October live cattle settled up 0.475 cent at 144.675 cents/lb. and the most-active December contract rose 0.425 cent to end at 147.925 cents.
CME November feeder cattle jumped 2.125 cents, to finish at 177.325 cents/lb.
Meatpackers slaughtered an estimated 128,000 cattle on Wednesday, up from 127,000 a week ago and up from 121,000 cattle a year ago, USDA said. In the pork sector, packers killed an estimated 487,000 hogs, up from 484,000 hogs a week ago and 480,000 hogs a year ago.
In other livestock news, Tyson Foods, the biggest U.S. meat company by sales, said it will relocate all corporate employees from offices in Chicago and suburban Downers Grove — along with those in Dakota Dunes, S.D. — to its headquarters in Springdale, Arkansas, starting next year.
— Julie Ingwersen is a Reuters commodities correspondent in Chicago.
