CME update: lean hog futures trim on demand uncertainty
US lean hog futures stepped back on 3 December as pandemic restrictions and export data weighs on the market.
4 December 2020
3 minute read
By: Reuters reports that CME's benchmark February lean hog futures contract settled 0.950 cent lower at 66.925 cents per pound.
Joe Kooima, commodity broker with Kooima & Kaemingk Commodities Inc told Reuters that demand uncertainty was weighing on livestock markets. He explained that retailers stocked up on meat and other essentials as COVID-19 cases climbed this fall, hoping to avoid shortages seen when the pandemic began. But as Americans tempered panic buying, grocery stores found themselves already stocked for the holiday season - normally a time of strong meat demand.
"Holiday stuff is probably already in the store," he said. "They just wanted to make sure they were better prepared this time, that they had stuff on supply, as compared to scrambling last time."
Weekly export sales of US pork totaled 31,300 tonnes, the USDA said, up 66 percent from the previous week but down 6 percent from the prior four-week average, with Mexico buying 12,900 tonnes while China booked 7,400 tonnes and shipped 9,000 tonnes.
