December Exports Equal 22 Percent Of Production
U.S. pork exports during December were up 6.5 percent compared to 12 months earlier and were the most for any month since November 2012. Mexico and Japan were responsible for the increase.
December pork imports were down from the month before, but up 11.7 percent from a year earlier with most of the extra pork coming from Canada.
December exports equaled 22.0 percent of U.S. pork production. December imports equaled 3.6 percent of production.
For all of 2013, the U.S. exported 4.99 billion pounds of pork. That was down 7.2 percent from the year before and was the third most after 2012 and 2011. Russia, China, and South Korea were the markets with the biggest decline in purchases. The value of pork exports in 2013 totaled $5.1 billion.
U.S. pork imports in 2013 totaled 879 million pounds, up 9.7 percent from 2012 and the most since 2007.
Hog imports were down 3.2 percent in December with feeder pig imports down 4.2 percent. Other live imports were up 2.2 percent compared to December 2012. Live hog imports in 2013 totaled 4,958,268 head, down 12.3 percent compared to 2012 and the fewest since 2000. All U.S. hog imports in 2013 were from Canada.
The national average negotiated carcass price for direct delivered hogs on the morning report today was $80.26/cwt, up 27 cents from last Friday, but down $5.20 from a year ago. The eastern corn belt averaged $80.27/cwt this morning. There were no hog price quotes for the western corn belt or Iowa-Minnesota this morning. Peoria, IL and Zumbrota, MN both had a live price top this morning of $57/cwt. The top price Friday for interior Missouri live hogs was $57.75, up $2 from the previous Friday.
Friday morning’s pork cutout value was $91.17/cwt FOB the plants, up $1.75 from the week before and up $9.48 from a year ago. This morning’s hog carcass price averaged 88.0 percent of the cutout value.
Hog slaughter this week totaled 2.171 million head, up 1.8 percent from the week before and up 1.4 percent compared to the same week last year.
The average live weight of barrows and gilts in Iowa-Minnesota last week was 281.6 pounds, down 1.3 pounds from a week earlier, but up 7.6 pounds from a year ago. This weight series has been more than 6.0 pounds above year-ago for each of the last 14 weeks.
The February lean hog futures contract settled at $86.57/cwt today, up 35 cents from the previous Friday. April hog futures ended the week at $94.72/cwt, up 8 cents from the week before. May hogs gained 45 cents to close at $103.15. The June contract ended the week at $105.35/cwt. July closed at $104.92/cwt.
March corn futures ended the week at $4.44 per bushel, up 10 cents from the week before. July corn settled at $4.55/bushel.
March soybean meal futures ended the week at $446.40 per ton, up $20.30 from the previous Friday. July soybean meal futures settled at $417.70/ton today.∆
DR. RON PLAIN AND DR. SCOTT BROWN: Agricultural Economists, University of Missouri