November 17, 2008
US slaughter, inventory to influence Canadian hog prices
The US weekly hog slaughter and meat in cold storage will continue to play key roles in Canada's hog prices, said an industry expert.
The US weekly hog slaughter numbers in the past two months continue to exceed the same period last year, leading to increased pork production, said livestock economist Brad Marceniuk.
A rising US meat output and a fall in demand has resulted to an increase in cold storage, up nearly 1 percent on-month and up almost 9 percent on-year, said Marceniuk.
While slaughter numbers were higher, there are signs that the US slaughter numbers are stabilising and may decline later in the fourth quarter, said Marceniuk, adding that Canada's weekly hog slaughter rate has been on the rise for the past few weeks compared to the year-ago period.
The depreciating Canadian dollar and impact caused by the US Country-of-Origin Labelling legislating (COOL) has forced many processors to increase slaughter numbers. The trend is expected to continue into 2009, depending on changes in the Canadian dollar and COOL.
