April 12, 2012

Hog prices dropped due to signs of increasing pork supplies in the US.

Hog carcasses weighed an average 212.35 pounds (96.3 kilogrammes) on April 6, the highest since at least January 2002, U.S. Department of Agriculture data show. Wholesale pork dropped 0.2% to 78.41 cents a pound yesterday, USDA data show. The price has dropped 7.9% this year.

'The pork market continues to be soft,' Don Roose, the president of US Commodities Inc. in West Des Moines, Iowa, said in a telephone interview. 'Summer supplies are going to be up and may be a little bit of an anchor on rallies.'

Hog futures for June settlement declined 0.3% to close at 93.35 cents a pound at 1 p.m. on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. The commodity has gained 11% this year.

Cattle futures for June delivery slid 1.3% to US$1.143 a pound. After the settlement, the price touched US$1.14, the lowest for a most-active contract since September 2. The price has dropped 5.9% this year.

Wholesale beef has dropped 8.3% this year, USDA data show. On April 6, the price touched US$1.78 a pound, the lowest since August 10, government data show.

'Beef demand overall remains a little lacklustre,' Troy Vetterkind, the owner of Vetterkind Cattle Brokerage in Chicago, said in a note.

Feeder-cattle futures for August settlement dropped 0.5% to US$1.50 a pound, according to reports.