Lean hog futures were down 25 cents to $1.65 at the Thursday close. Open interest suggested some modest long liquidation, down 3,105 contracts. USDA’s national base hog price was reported at $92.64 on Thursday afternoon, down 61 cents from the day prior. The CME Lean Hog Index was back up 12 cents on April 28 at $91.31.
Export Sales data from USDA showed pork sales for 2026 at 46,288 MT for the week ending on 4/23, a 4-week high. Mexico was the buyer of 26,100 MT, with 8,800 MT sold to China. Shipments were tallied at a calendar year low of 35,029 MT. The top destination was Mexico at 16,300 MT, with 4,500 MT headed to Japan.
USDA’s pork carcass cutout value from the Thursday PM report was down 43 cents at $96.76 per cwt. The picnic, ham, and belly were the primals reported higher. USDA estimated the Wednesday federally inspected slaughter at 479,000 head, with the week to date total at 1.94 million head. That is down 13,000 head from the previous week but 5,089 head above the same week last year.
May 26 Hogs closed at $93.450, down $1.650,
Jun 26 Hogs closed at $102.275, down $1.475
Jul 26 Hogs closed at $105.050, down $1.225,
