Hogs Look to Round Out Week After Thursday Gains

Veterinarian standing next to a pig pen by dusanpetkovic via iStock

Lean Hog futures closed out the Thursday session with contracts up 17 to 37 cents. The national average base hog negotiated price was not reported on Thursday afternoon due to very thin volume, with the 5-day rolling average at $83.65. The CME Lean Hog Index was reported at $87.83 on November 19, down another 26 cents from the previous day. 

Thursday morning’s Export Sales report showed 18,060 MT of pork sold for 2024 shipment in the week of 11/14, with 2,459 MT for 2025. Just 4,100 MT of 2024 was purchased by Mexico, with South Korea purchasing 3,300 MT. Shipments were tallied at 31,975 MT, an improvement from last week. Of that total, 12,600 MT was to Mexico, with 3,800 MT to Japan. 

USDA’s FOB plant pork cutout value reported back lower on Thursday afternoon, down $1.53 at $93.07 per cwt. The picnic, belly, and ham primals were reported lower to drag on the cutout. USDA estimated the Thursday FI hog slaughter at 487,000 head, with the weekly total at 1.953 million head. That is 29,000 head above last week and up 527,468 head from the same (Thanksgiving) week last year.

Dec 24 Hogs  closed at $80.800, up $0.275,

Feb 25 Hogs  closed at $84.650, up $0.175

Apr 25 Hogs  closed at $88.925, up $0.300,


On the date of publication, Austin Schroeder did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. For more information please view the Barchart Disclosure Policy here.