Pig outlook: Lean hog futures bears gain the technical edge

August lean hog futures prices are trending lower on the daily bar chart and the bears have the near-term technical advantage.

However, cash hog and pork market fundamentals are stabilizing. The latest CME lean hog index is up 1 cent at $107.20 as of July 15. Pork cutout value rose 72 cents to $114.74 on Wednesday. Also, gains in cattle futures to record highs recently are likely to limit the price downside in hog and pork markets. Still, the hog futures bulls need to show good power soon in order to keep the speculative bears from piling on and pushing prices lower.

Weekly USDA US pork export sales

Pork: Net sales of 17,100 MT for 2025 were down 30 percent from the previous week and 48 percent from the prior 4-week average. Increases were primarily for Mexico (7,700 MT, including decreases of 1,000 MT), Japan (2,500 MT, including decreases of 300 MT), Colombia (1,500 MT), Canada (1,100 MT, including decreases of 200 MT), and China (1,000 MT, including decreases of 100 MT). Exports of 26,500 MT were down 12 percent from the previous week and 19 percent from the prior 4-week average. The destinations were primarily to Mexico (12,400 MT), China (3,600 MT), Japan (3,300 MT), South Korea (2,300 MT), and Colombia (1,100 MT).