Lean hog futures posted gains of 50 cents to $1.30 on the Wednesday session. Preliminary open interest was down 4,490 contracts. USDA’s national base hog price had a weighted average of $112.60 on Wednesday afternoon, up $3.02 from the day prior. The CME Lean Hog Index was down 6 cents at $107.19 on July 14.
USDA’s FOB plant pork cutout value for Wednesday afternoon was 72 cents higher at $114. Pork belly quotes were another $4.92 per cwt higher, with firmer picnic, rib, and ham prices also supporting the cutout. Wednesday’s estimated hog slaughter was 477,000 head according to the USDA, taking the weekly total to 1.408 million head. That was 10,000 head below last week and 26,663 head lower than the same week last year.
