Reuters reported that Chicago lean hog futures reached contract lows Monday as cash-market and wholesale pork prices weakened, adding pressure despite a smaller U.S. hog inventory.
The December 2026 contract settled down 0.70 cent at 58.175 U.S. cents per pound after trading as low as 57.775 cents per pound, Reuters reported. The April 2027 contract also marked a contract low, though Reuters gave no price for it.
Reuters associated the decline that has persisted since July with low returns in the cash hog market and falling wholesale pork values. It also reported that analysts viewed futures as oversold but could not say when prices might recover.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) counted 74.3 million hogs and pigs on farms on Sept. 1, 2026, down 2% from a year earlier but 2% above June 1, 2026. Producers weaned 34.5 million pigs from June through August 2026, also 2% fewer than in the same period in 2025.
Of the total, 68.4 million were market hogs and 5.87 million were breeding animals. The average litter size in the three-month period was 11.96 pigs, NASS said.
These figures track farm inventory and pig output over defined periods; they do not directly count how many hogs were ready for near-term slaughter.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service Beijing post forecast China’s pork output would change little in 2026, with slightly higher slaughter offset by lighter carcass weights. The post expects abundant domestic supply and subdued consumption to limit imports, and cited China’s anti-dumping duties on pork from the European Union as another factor in its outlook.
Joe Schuele, spokesman for the U.S. Meat Export Federation, told Reuters, “It’s hard for them to import pork from the US or from most suppliers and turn a profit on it.”
CME says each lean hog futures contract represents 40,000 pounds and is financially settled. NASS has scheduled its next quarterly Hogs and Pigs report for Dec. 23, 2026, at 3 p.m. ET.
