Lean hog futures closed the last trade day of the week with $0.42 to $2.30 gains in the front months. Pork Cutout futures closed $1.05 to $2.05 higher in the front months. The CME Lean Hog Index for the 18th was another 55 cents weaker at $68.77. USDA’s National Average Base Hog price for Friday afternoon was down 33 cents at $58.73. USDA’s National Pork Carcass Cutout value was $1.05 weaker on Friday afternoon, led by a $6.32 drop in butts and a $4.16 drop in hams. The weekly Commitment of Traders report showed managed money covered some shorts in the week ending 11/17. That increased the group’s net long by 1,775 contracts to 35,710. USDA’s estimate for the week’s federally inspected hog slaughter is 2.711m head through Saturday. That is up 28k head wk/wk, but down from 2.767m last year. YTD hog slaughter remains 0.8% ahead of 2019’s pace.
--- provided by Brugler Marketing & Management
