CHICAGO, – Lean hog futures dropped to life-of-contract lows on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange on Tuesday due to anemic demand for US pork.
Demand has suffered because US consumers are being pinched by high costs for gasoline and worry that pork is dry and lacks flavor when cooked, analysts said. Exports have also been lackluster this year because China, the world’s biggest pork consumer, is grappling with an oversupply of hogs and Mexico has imported less pork from the US.
CME December lean hog futures set a contract low of 57.425 cents, before ending 0.425 cent higher at 58.600 cents per pound. The contract has tumbled 27.5% since late July.
February and April 2027 hog futures set contract lows and settled weaker.
Though the US has an ample supply of hogs, poor demand was driving market losses because pork production is down this year, analysts said.
US meatpackers slaughtered an estimated 493,000 hogs on Tuesday, up 1.2% from a year earlier, according to the US Department of Agriculture. So far this year, slaughterings are down 0.9% at about 106.2 million hogs.
Uncertainty over demand for high-priced US beef also weighed on CME cattle futures, analysts said.
CME December live cattle closed down 1.550 cents at 218.150 cents per pound and touched the lowest price since September 18. The contract has declined for six consecutive sessions.
January feeder cattle futures tumbled 4.3 cents to end at 328.375 cents per pound and set the lowest price since October 8.
Meatpackers slaughtered an estimated 110,000 cattle on Tuesday, down 7.9% from a year ago, according to the USDA. Slaughterings this year are down 7.1% due to tight inventories.
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