August 9, 2013

The US pork net sales for 2013 was reported at 4,800 tonnes, down 50% from last week's report and 28% from the four-week average, according to the USDA's latest "US Export Sales" report.

However, this week's report is 17% higher than the 10-week low reported on July 18. These sales were primarily for South Korea (800 tonnes), Hong Kong (700 tonnes), Mexico (600 tonnes), Japan (600 tonnes), and Canada (600 tonnes). Exports of 7,800 tonnes were primarily to Mexico (2,800 tonnes), Japan (1,100 tonnes), Hong Kong (1,100 tonnes), Canada (900 tonnes), and China (300 tonnes).

On Wednesday (Jul 31) lean hog futures dove after testing overhead resistance but followed the cattle market higher overnight. October hog futures ascended US$0.87 to US$85.80 early Thursday (Aug 1) morning, while December ran up US$0.62 to US$82.30.