Lean hog futures closed the Friday session with contracts down 40 to 75 cents. June was down $2.025 on the week. USDA’s national average base hog negotiated price was reported at $94.86 on Friday afternoon, down 43 from the day prior. The CME Lean Hog Index was up another 41 cents on May 21, at $92.75. The market will be closed on Monday for Memorial Day, as well as the government reports delayed, with a normal 8:30 am CDT open on Tuesday.

Cold Storage data showed 455.803 million lbs of pork in cooler at the end of April. That was the lowest since 2004, a drop of 8.71% from last year, but up 11.32% from March.

Specs in lean hog futures and options added another 10,658 contracts to their net long position in the week ending on Tuesday. That net long was 91,744 contracts as of May 20.

USDA’s FOB plant pork cutout value from Friday afternoon was reported at $101.46, back up $1.19. The ham and rib were the only primals reported lower, with the butt up $4.71. Federally inspected hog slaughter for this week was estimated at 2.362 million head by the USDA. That is down 38,000 head from the previous week and 9,081 head above the same week last year.

Jun 25 Hogs  closed at $98.300, down $0.400,

Jul 25 Hogs  closed at $101.550, down $0.500

Aug 25 Hogs  closed at $101.275, down $0.725,