Lean hog futures closed the last trade day of the week mixed but mostly lower. April contracts ended with a 2 cent gain on the day, but the other front months were 15 to 35 cents lower. Dec hogs ended the week even with last Friday’s close. The CME Lean Hog Index fell back 16 cents to $66.55 on 12/2. USDA’s National Average Afternoon Base Hog price for Friday was 46 cents weaker at $55.81. Pork Cutout futures closed $0.92 to $1.92 lower. USDA’s National Pork Carcass Cutout value was reported at $78.17 in the PM update, $1.12 stronger. CFTC’s weekly Commitment of Traders report showed lean hog specs added 1,926 contracts to the net long, at 38,359 as of 12/1. USDA estimates FI hog slaughter for the week through Saturday at 2.789m head, down 15k head yr/yr. YTD slaughter remains 0.8% ahead of 2019’s pace with 121.582 million head.  

--- provided by Brugler Marketing & Management