Lean hog futures saw weakness on Thursday, with contracts down 47 cents to $1.40 in the nearbys and 7 to 32 cent gains in the back months. USDA’s national base hog price was reported at $89.74 on Thursday afternoon. The CME Lean Hog Index was 34 cents higher on March 3 at $90.18.
Export Sales data from USDA showed 36,103 MT of pork sold in the week of 2/26. That was back down 15.3% from the previous week. Mexico was the top buyer of 22,400 MT, with Japan in for 3,800 MT. Shipments were at 37,842 MT in that week, which was a drop of 7.9% wk/wk. The top destination was Mexico at 17,200 MT, with 5,100 MT to Japan.
