Hogs Round Out Wednesday Mixed, as Mexico Left Off the Reciprocal Tariffs

Pig in a pen by AlexRaths via iStock

Lean hog futures posted mixed trade on Wednesday, with contracts down 35 to 50 cents in the nearbys and pulling off their lows into the close. Nearby April was up 7 cents. The USDA national average base hog negotiated price was up 62 cents from the day prior at $88.88 in the Wednesday PM report. The CME Lean Hog Index was back up 15 from the previous day on March 31 at $88.65.

President Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs came with Mexico and Canada left off the list and the exemption on all USMCA compliant goods remaining in place. Reciprocal tariffs were put in place on Japan at 24%, South Korea at 25% and China at 34% (54% including the initial set of tariffs from earlier this year). They go into effect on April 9.

Wednesday afternoon’s pork cutout print from USDA was down $1.81 cents at $93.70 per cwt. All primals were reported lower, with the belly leading the charge. USDA estimated the Wednesday Federally inspected hog slaughter at 485,000 head, with a weekly total at 1.438 million head. That is down 12,000 head from last week but 101,788 head above the same week last year. 

Apr 25 Hogs  closed at $87.450, up $0.075,

May 25 Hogs  closed at $89.125, down $0.350

Jun 25 Hogs  closed at $96.525, down $0.500,


On the date of publication, Austin Schroeder did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. For more information please view the Barchart Disclosure Policy here.