Lean hog futures closed with 7 to 70 cent losses across the front months on Thursday. Open interest was up 2,062 contracts on Thursday. USDA’s national base hog price was reported at $86.58 on Thursday afternoon, down 24 cents from the day prior. The CME Lean Hog Index was 23 cents higher on Feb 3 at $86.06.
The weekly Export Sales report indicated 35,107 MT of pork sold in the week ending on January 29, down 37.3% from last week and 30.7% below the same week last year. Mexico was the top buyer of 13,800 MT, with 5,200 MT sold to China. Export shipments were 37,622 MT in that week, up 4.7% from the same week last year. Mexico took 16,900 MT, with 4,300 MT headed to Japan.
