Lean hog futures have been pressured by a larger supply combined with higher tariffs being applied by both Mexico and China.
That from Tyler Fulton, Director of Risk Management with Hams Marketing Services.
He says the market is also reflecting the latest trade data which shows that the United States showed no growth in pork exported for the month of May compared to a year previous. The main factor contributing to the poor performance was trade with China which was down close to 50% from year ago levels.
Fulton explained how U.S. cash markets have been performing.
"The cash markets are not probably performing quite as strong as what we would expect them to for this time of year," he said. "We've got a lot of hogs out there but we've still got really strong cash demand. Packers have been actually willing to operate at a loss just to be able to secure those supplies and make sure they can continue to fill some of the orders that they had in place."
Source : Steinbachonline