USDA Quarterly Hogs Report Bullish; Cash Hog Fundamentals Still Bearish
US - Last Friday afternoon's 'Quarterly Hogs & Pigs' Report from the US Department of Agriculture showed the US hog inventory as of 1 December at 65.940 million head, which was around 368,000 head below the average pre-report trade forecast.
31 December 2013
2 minute read
By: Also, USDA made bullish revisions to past data since December 2011. The kept-for-breeding and kept-for-marketing categories were both down around one per cent from year-ago levels.
The September-November pig crop, at 29.298 million head, was roughly 20,000 less than expected by the trade.
Tempering the bullish USDA hog data is still-weak cash hog market fundamentals at present. Pork cutout values in the US dropped sharply on Friday.
Hog weights also remain well above year-ago. Pork demand must remain solid to keep up with hefty pork supplies.
