Hogs Rise Most In Five Months As Pork Demand Gains; Cattle Climb

Hog futures rose for the third day on signs that U.S. slaughtering plants are buying more animals as pork demand improves. Cattle also advanced.

Meatpackers processed 841,000 hogs in the first two days this week, up 7.3 percent from the same period last week and 0.2 percent more than a year earlier, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Wholesale-pork prices rallied 0.4 percent yesterday to $1.0431 a pound and are up 3.1 percent this month, after dropping 8 percent in July, government data show.

“Packers seem to be willing to pay up for hogs and keep prices firm, so that is a bullish sign,” Dick Quiter, an account executive at McFarland Commodities LLC in Chicago, said in a telephone interview. “Pork prices have stayed high. We’re also seeing some increased demand for Labor Day.”

To read the rest of the story, please go to: Bloomberg Businessweek