Download PDF Pork packing margins are shrinking rapidly, dropping from $37/head two weeks ago to $27/head this week. The problem for packers is that hog prices are rising while the cutout remains stuck in the upper 80s. This week the WCB negotiated base price added $9.58/cwt. on a weekly average basis, while the pork cutout …
Download PDF After a very dismal December and early January, optimism has returned to the hog and pork complex. Interestingly, this new optimism wasn’t generated by a soaring cutout because the cutout only added its usual $1 this week. Nope, the excitement was generated by the negotiated hog market where prices in the NDD market …
Download PDF This week, the pork cutout posted its largest weekly gain since Labor Day, up $2.93/cwt. on a weekly average basis to $88.02. That rally was led by the bellies and it happened in a week where production returned to near-normal. As a result, it easy to conclude that the strength in bellies recently …
Download PDF Last week, I noted that belly prices had firmed, but I wanted to see how they held up under a full production week. Unfortunately, that hasn’t yet been tested because this week was another short kill week due to weather issues. Snow across the Midwest and an impending polar vortex had packers cutting …
Download PDF Lean hog futures went on a rollercoaster ride this week, as the nearby Feb contract inexplicably sold off hard on Tuesday, spent Wednesday ruminating on that move, then shot limit up on Thursday, followed by additional gains on Friday. After all was said and done, Feb added a little over $2 on the …
Download PDF Prices in the hog and pork complex continued their orderly march lower this week, as the cutout averaged $82.30, down $2.09/cwt. from last week. Negotiated hogs fared a little better and the NDD negotiated base price was down $1.28 to average $47.78. With the cutout coming down faster than cash hogs, packer margins …
Download PDF Negotiated base prices for hogs dropped below $50/cwt. this week, with the WCB market averaging $49, down $3.84 from the week before. The cutout posted a tiny gain, up $0.21 to average $84.48/cwt. The cutout has averaged in the $84-85 range for the past four weeks. That may give the impression that it …
Download PDF The pork cutout eased a little bit more this week, dropping $0.71/cwt. to average $84.27. However, the negotiated hog markets came under substantial pressure, with the WCB price dropping $3.75/cwt. on a weekly average basis and the NDD price down $4.54/cwt. There is a very real possibility that some hogs will trade for …
Download PDF The pork cutout was nearly steady this week, down only $0.06/cwt. from last week’s average. Cash hog prices fared much worse however, as the NDD negotiated market dropped $3.32/cwt. to average $57.91. That caused packer margins to expand to almost $25/head, which is about $5 higher than last week. The action in the …
Download PDF The cash hog markets moved lower again this week, with the WCB negotiated price dropping $3.72/cwt. to average $59.44. That is the first sub $60 weekly average since early December, 2021. The cutout also eased lower, dropping $2/cwt. to average $85.04. There were a lot of buyers on holiday this week and thus …