Lean hog futures closed the Wednesday session with losses 7 to 22 cents in the nearbys. Light long liquidation was noted with preliminary open interest down 474 contracts on Wednesday. USDA’s national base hog price from the Wednesday PM report was back up 42 cents at $99.05. The CME Lean Hog Index was down another 60 cents on October 6 at $101.42.
USDA’s FOB plant report showed the pork cutout down $2.21 on Wednesday afternoon at $103.82 per cwt. All primals were reported lower, with the butt leading the charge down $7.55. USDA estimated federally inspected hog slaughter at 489,000 head for Wednesday, taking the week’s total to 1.46 million head. That is 11,000 head above last week and 17,545 head larger than the same week last year.
