The porkers are trading cautiously higher at the CME on Tuesday (excluding October, which is down 7 cents heading into midday). Lean hog futures were up 10 to 87 cents on Monday. Preliminary open interest was down 2,469 contracts on Monday, suggesting short covering. USDA’s national base hog price had a weighted average of $113.99 this morning, up $4.11 from the previous report. The CME Lean Hog Index was up 27 cents at $108.20 on July 18.
USDA’s Tuesday morning FOB plant pork cutout value is $0.62 lower at $117.21 per cwt. Belly primals continue to rise, but hams, ribs and butts were all quoted lower this morning. USDA estimated hog slaughter at 458,000 head for Monday. That was 9,000 head below last week but up 3,143 from the same week last year.
