FEED: How sensitive to world hog prices vs. insulated by mostly-Chinese price-controlled market?
FEED has done well lately but fairly volatile day-to-day and off today.
Hogs Gain on Speculation Pork Demand Will Rise by Whitney McFerron
June 11 (Bloomberg) -- Hog futures rose the most in a month on speculation that demand for pork will increase as wholesale prices for the meat approach the lowest since early May. Cattle also gained.
Wholesale pork slid 1.6 percent yesterday to 55.7 cents a pound, near the 55.2 cents reached on June 3, the lowest price in a month, U.S. Department of Agriculture data show. Low wholesale costs may spur retailers to offer discounts on pork, making it more attractive to consumers, said David Kruse, a commodity trading adviser at CommStock Investments Inc.
“We are getting these pork prices down to a point where they represent a value to the consumer,” Kruse said in a telephone interview from Royal, Iowa. “We’re seeing good, top- quality Iowa chops at $1.88 a pound. That’s cheaper than hamburger, and that ultimately will have an impact.”
Hog futures for August settlement rose 0.675 cent, or 1.1 percent, to 59.95 cents a pound at 10:12 a.m. on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. A close at that price would be the biggest gain for a most-active contract since May 12. Before today, hog prices fell 20 percent in the past year.
Wholesale pork prices are down 26 percent in the past year, as the recession and a swine flu outbreak curbed demand for U.S. exports and sapped domestic purchases.
To contact the reporter on this story: Whitney McFerron in Chicago at wmcferron1@bloomberg.net.
Doo Your Own Doo Diligence.
AI
