Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) lean hog futures retreated on Thursday from their recent one-week peak, contrasting with a rise in live cattle futures.
Hog futures declined as wholesale pork prices in the United States retreated following a surge earlier in the week. The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) reported a decrease in the pork carcass cutout to $97.02 per hundredweight (cwt), down $6.63 compared to late Tuesday’s figures. Pork bellies also saw a significant drop of $5.54 per cwt, after a steep decline of more than $19 per cwt on Wednesday.
Closing the day’s trading, CME July hogs settled down 0.925 cents at 92.775 cents per pound.
Market sentiment for hogs has been dampened by abundant supplies in the US, contributing to a downturn that saw prices hit a five-month low last week. USDA data indicated that average hog weights were 289 pounds in the week ending June 8, slightly down from the previous week but higher than 279.9 pounds a year earlier.
In its latest update, USDA highlighted that net US pork export sales for 2024 totaled 30,100 metric tons in the week ended June 6, a decrease of 1% from the average of the previous four weeks. Meanwhile, beef exports faced a steeper decline, with weekly sales of 12,000 metric tons for 2024 down by 28% from the prior four-week average.
Despite these fluctuations, boxed beef prices saw modest gains with choice cuts reaching $318.31 per cwt, up 71 cents from Wednesday, and select cuts rising by 32 cents to $299.25 per cwt.
In the cattle market, CME August live cattle futures closed higher by 1.175 cents at 179.5 cents per pound, while August feeder cattle futures ended the session down 0.100 cent at 257.475 cents per pound.
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