July 31, 2006

US pork exports increase as domestic demand slackens

Even though live hog prices for January through June were down 12.5 percent from a year earlier, June prices were 12 percent above May and 10.1 percent above June of 2005, according to industry sources.

Meanwhile, consumer demand for the first six months of this year is down 5.3 percent from 12 months earlier. Live hog demand is also down by 1.7 percent, Cattlenetwork reported.  

Increased pork exports and population growth are the major factors resulting in the smaller decline in live hog demand than consumer demand.

Live hog weights in Iowa and Minnesota were slightly down due to the recent high temperatures. However, it was still 0.5 pounds heavier than a year earlier.

For the past three weeks, slaughter has increased 4 percent on-year..

Triumph Pork at St. Joseph has announced they plan to start a second kill shift in early- to mid-August. When operational, this would add eight thousand head a day to slaughter capacity in the US. The announcement is good news for live hog prices as such an increase may possibly add US$0.50 to US$1.00 per cwt to hog prices.