The world’s largest pork market, China, may be experiencing a more than 50 percent decline in production and yet U.S. hog prices are softening. Part of the problem is that hog slaughter as a percent of packing capacity is well above year-ago levels (see graph below). The ratio of slaughter to packing capacity is running at 89.6 percent, versus 86.6 percent in 2018. As this ratio increases, prices tend to decrease since packers don’t want to buy hogs when their hook space is full.
The increase in slaughter to packing ratio is occurring at the same time there is a seasonal downturn in hog and pork prices. Prices this year began to soften a month or two earlier. Some analysts this week highlighted how U.S. pork expo...
What You Need to Know Today: Russia rejected calls for a ceasefire in the Black Sea, including a proposal to halt attacks on civilian shipping that could help restore grain flows from Ukrainian ports. Tyson Foods announced plans to permanently close its Joslin, Illinois, beef processing facili...
The big news in the cattle markets yesterday was Tyson Foods’ move to close two more beef plants. One of them, the Joslin, Illinois, plant was shuttered immediately after the announcement. The other, in Eagle Mountain, Utah, is a case-ready plant that does not slaughter cattle. Tyson also...
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released the Consumer Price Index (CPI) on Wednesday. In July, the CPI rose 0.1 percent, seasonally adjusted, and rose 3.4 percent over the last 12 months, not seasonally adjusted. The index for all items less food and energy, or the “core” infla...
