US: Lean hog futures bulls holding their own on the CME

In a tough, risk-averse trading week for ag market bulls, the lean hog futures market did not perform too badly—especially amid the steep sell off in the cattle futures markets recently. Still, cash hog fundamentals are weakening. The latest CME lean hog index is down 23 cents to $93.10 as of Aug. 6, the third straight daily decline. The pork cutout dropped $1.99 on Wednesday to $100.32, led by a $7.62 drop in primal bellies, though all cuts except hams declined. Hog futures traders remain pessimistic about the outlook for lean hog futures, as seen by the discounts in deferred hog futures through the winter months. US consumers have accelerated their bacon purchases for BLT season, as implied by the belly market strength over the last month. Pork: Net US sales of 34,600 MT for 2024 were up 10 percent from the previous week and 24 percent from the prior 4-week average. Increases were primarily for Mexico (14,800 MT, including decreases of 400 MT), China (7,400 MT), Japan (2,900 MT, ...