Hog futures fell the most since early August as plunging pork prices signaled slowing demand and ample supplies of animals available for slaughter. Cattle also declined.
Wholesale-pork prices fell 3.1 percent yesterday, the biggest slide since January, and hogs sold to slaughterhouses in the Iowa-southern Minnesota region weighed 0.5 percent more last week than a year earlier, government data show. Supplies tend to rise from August to December, based on animal breeding cycles and as cooler weather increases hog weights.
“Hog numbers are increasing now, which is normal for this time of year,” said Dennis Smith, a senior account executive at Archer Financial Services Inc. in Chicago. “Weights are also increasing. Apparently demand has peaked for right now.”
Hog futures for December settlement dropped 1.75 cents, or 2.3 percent, to 74.15 cents a pound at 10:01 a.m. on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. A close at that level would be the biggest decline for a most-active contract since Aug. 6. Before today, the price jumped 16 percent this year.
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