Hogs Rally on Monday as Specs Expand Record Net Long

Austin Schroeder Barchart Mon Dec 2, 4:46PM CST
Brown and white piglet by Fernando Cavalcanti via Pixabay

Lean hog futures closed out the Monday session with deferreds steady to up $1.72 in the nearbys. The national average base hog negotiated price was reported at $83.97 on Monday afternoon, up 18 cents from the day prior. The CME Lean Hog Index was reported at $85.21 on November 27, down another 30 cents from the previous day. 

The sow herd in China was at 40.73 million head on October 31, which was down 3.2% from last year according to the country’s ministry of ag. Year to date hog slaughter was down 2.6% from the year prior at 264.21 million head through the end of October.

The large managed money spec traders in lean hog futures and options added 9,171 contracts to their now record net long as of 11/26. They took the record exposure to 124,761 contracts by last Tuesday. 

USDA’s FOB plant pork cutout value reported higher on Monday PM, up $2.35 at $92.66 per cwt. The butt was the only primal lower, with the rest of the primals up 26 cents to $7.78 led by the ham. USDA estimated Monday’s FI hog slaughter at 489,000 head. That was even with last Monday and up 2,227 head from the same Monday last year.

Dec 24 Hogs  closed at $83.225, up $1.150,

Feb 25 Hogs  closed at $87.950, up $1.625

Apr 25 Hogs  closed at $92.475, up $1.725,


On the date of publication, Austin Schroeder did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. For more information please view the Barchart Disclosure Policy here.