Weekly pig digest: China pork sector looks abroad as domestic oversupply pressures margins
Weaker hog prices at home push major integrators to diversify production and sales channels beyond mainland China
14 February 2026
2 minute read
By: Lean hog futures see bearish chart pattern
April lean hogs on Wednesday fell $1.65 to $93.85 and hit a three-week low. The market saw more profit-taking and technical selling pressure from the shorter-term traders. A rare and bearish broadening pattern on the daily chart for April hogs emboldened the chart-based bears to play the short side Wednesday. The latest CME lean hog index is down 14 cents at $86.32. Today’s projected cash index price is up 20 cents at $86.52. The national direct five-day rolling average cash hog price quote Wednesday was $65.41.
US-China trade truce may be extended by as much as one year: report
President Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping could extend their trade truce by as much as a year when they meet in Beijing in April, the South China Morning Post reported Thursday and as reported by Bloomberg, citing several unidentified people familiar with the discussions. The summit is set to be anchored around short-term economic wins, including fresh Chinese purchase commitments, the Morning Post report said.
Trump mulls quitting USMCA trade deal as US House votes to end duties on Canada imports
President Trump is privately considering exiting the North American trade pact, Bloomberg reported, citing people familiar with the matter, injecting further uncertainty about the deal’s future into pivotal renegotiations involving the US, Canada and Mexico. The US-Mexico-Canada Agreement is set for a mandatory review before a possible extension on July 1, “a process that was once expected to be routine but has transformed into a contentious negotiation, with Trump demanding additional trade concessions from Ottawa and Mexico City,” said Bloomberg. Meantime, the Republican-led US House has passed legislation aimed at ending the Trump’s levies on Canadian imports. “Wednesday’s vote represents an increase in political pressure to change course on Trump’s signature economic policy just months before the midterm elections,” said Bloomberg. “The vote also signals a growing anxiety over the White House’s economic agenda before elections that are expected to focus heavily on affordability.” The US Senate will now take up the measure.
China’s largest hog breeder has successful stock listing in Hong Kong
Muyuan Foods Co. plans to partner with Asian hog farmers and enhance its global feed-grain supply network after raising HK$10.7 billion ($1.4 billion) in Hong Kong’s biggest listing of the year so far, Bloomberg reported. China’s largest hog breeder is looking to expand in Southeast Asia over the next three to five years, its chief financial officer said, in a move that will bolster regional biosecurity and help the company to diversify beyond an oversupplied domestic market. Muyuan also aims to build procurement teams in major grain- and oilseed-exporting nations like Brazil to ensure a steady supply of feed ingredients, Gao Tong told Bloomberg in an interview. “We hope to improve our globalized supply chain through this Hong Kong listing,” he said. “The proceeds will enable the company to expand overseas at a time when China – the world’s largest pork producer – is suffering from excess supply and declining prices at home. Farmers have also faced increased volatility in the global supply chain, with soybeans – a key ingredient in pig feed – becoming a flashpoint in trade tensions between Beijing and Washington,” said Bloomberg.
The next week’s likely high-low price trading ranges:
April lean hog futures--$91.00 to $97.50 and with a sideways-lower bias
March soybean meal futures--$295.00 to $320.00, and with a sideways-higher bias
March corn futures--$4.20 to $4.36 and a sideways bias
Latest analytical daily charts lean hog, soybean meal and corn futures
