Lean hog futures fell weaker on Thursday, as contracts were down 25 to 50 cents at the close. Open interest rose 3,610 contracts on Thursday. USDA’s national base hog price was reported at $91.00 on Thursday afternoon, down 21 cents from the day prior. The CME Lean Hog Index was 36 cents higher on Feb 24 at $88.71.
Export Sales for the week ending on February 19 were tallied at 42,611 MT, which was the second largest for the calendar year. Mexico bough the largest share of that, at 25,600 MT, with 4,000 MT sold to Japan, Shipments were 41,092 MT, the largest since April 2024. Of that, 18,500 MT was headed to Mexico, with 4,900 MT headed to South Korea and Japan each.
