Chicago | Reuters — CME Group hog futures fell on Thursday on poor export demand for pork, traders said.
Cattle futures were mixed, with live cattle easing on weakening trades in the cash market. Feeder cattle contracts were supported by falling corn prices.
The U.S. Agriculture Department said on Thursday morning that beef export sales in the week ended May 4 totaled 16,600 tonnes, down from 20,100 tonnes a week earlier.
Weekly pork export sales dropped to 30,000 tonnes from 49,000 tonnes. Sales to China, the world’s top consumer of pork, dropped to 5,600 tonnes from 14,200 tonnes.
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Signs of lacklustre demand from China despite the end of the country’s zero-tolerance policies to combat COVID-19 have weighed on pork prices throughout the spring. Most actively traded June lean hog futures fell 0.3 cent to settle at 83.875 cents/lb. (all figures US$).
August feeder cattle gained 0.925 cent to 226.075 cents/lb., breaking through its 30-day and 10-day moving averages.
June live cattle dipped 0.05 cent to 162.95 cents/lb.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday preserved a California law banning the sale of pork in America’s most-populous state from pigs kept in tightly confined spaces, rejecting an industry challenge claiming that the voter-backed animal welfare measure impermissibly regulates out-of-state farmers.
— Mark Weinraub is a Reuters commodities correspondent in Chicago.
