Lean hog futures were up another 20 to 75 cents on Friday, as the bounce last week saw April rally $2.40. Preliminary open interest was up 1,045 contracts on Friday. USDA’s national base hog price was reported at $88.96 on Friday afternoon, down $2.08 from the day prior. The CME Lean Hog Index was 40 cents higher on Feb 18 at $87.59.
USDA tallied 27,255 MT of pork sold in the week of 2/12, a 5-week low. Mexico was the largest buyer of 9,200 MT, with 5,600 MT to Japan. Export shipments were a total of 35,653 MT, the lowest for the calendar year. The largest destination was Mexico at 17,200 MT, with 4,200 MT to Japan.
