Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange lean hog futures ended higher on Thursday, buoyed by rising wholesale pork prices and firm cash hog values, traders said.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) quoted the wholesale pork carcass cutout at $110.90 per hundredweight (cwt), up 24 cents from Wednesday, and pork bellies rose $17.08, to $174.92/cwt, their highest since last August.
“Pork belly prices have risen sharply in the last few weeks,” said Sterling Smith, director of agricultural research at AgriSompo North America. “That creates a natural runway for the hog market.”
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CME August lean hogs settled up 1.15 cents at 96.5 cents/lb., and the October contract ended up 1.175 cents at 83.35 cents.
Meanwhile, the CME lean hog index, a two-day weighted average of cash hog prices, rose 70 cents to $99.36/cwt, its highest since mid-September.
Live cattle futures ended mixed as fundamental support from tightening cattle supplies and firm cash markets offset pressure from Wednesday’s poor technical close, when the August and October futures set life-of-contract highs, only to retreat and close lower.
“That is a very bad technical chart pattern,” Smith said. “I think that created some nervousness (on Thursday) and weighed on things a little bit.”
CME August live cattle futures clawed their way back up late in the session and settled 0.025 cent higher at 176.9 cents/lb., while October cattle ended down 0.15 cent at 180.1 cents.
August feeder cattle futures fell, finishing down 1.575 cents at 245 cents/lb., pressured by a rally in corn futures that signaled rising costs for feed.
USDA reported export sales of U.S. beef in the week ended July 6 at 9,900 metric tonnes, down 28 per cent from the prior four-week average. Pork export sales totaled 24,500 tonnes, down nine per cent from the prior four-week average.
— Julie Ingwersen is a Reuters commodities correspondent in Chicago.
