CHICAGO, May 25 (Reuters) - Chicago Mercantile Exchange hog futures tumbled to contract lows on Thursday, as excess supplies and sluggish demand for U.S. pork fueled losses for a fifth consecutive session.
Weak prices for pigs and high production costs continue to make it unprofitable to raise hogs, leading some analysts to project that producers will reduce their operations.
The market will struggle to recover until consumer demand improves for U.S. pork, FuturesOne commodity broker Matt Wiegand said.
"Demand is poor," he said.
CME lean hogs for June delivery reached a contract low of 77.025 cents per pound before ending down 2.15 cents at 77.650 cents per pound. Most-active July hogs closed 3.575 cents lower at 77.250 cents per pound and set a contract low of 77 cents per pound.
The contracts have dropped about 29% this year.
"Hogs took major hits today," CHS Hedging said in a note.
Weekly U.S. pork export sales were 29,200 tonnes for 2023 in the week ended May 18, down 8% from the previous week and 29% from the prior four-week average, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said.
For beef, net sales of 18,300 tonnes for 2023 were up 5% from the previous week and 15% from the prior four-week average.
CME June live cattle futures settled up 1.2 cents at 167.3 cents per pound. The most-active August live cattle contract rose 0.650 cent to 164.775 cents.
CME August feeder cattle gained 0.175 cent to finish at 234.700 cents per pound.
Cattle traders continue to focus on tight supplies after a drought prompted producers to reduce their herds.
Cash cattle traded from $180-$182 per cwt in Iowa and Nebraska this week, up from about $178 per cwt last week, brokers said.
U.S. meatpackers may be largely finished buying cattle in the cash market this week, Wiegand said, ahead of the three-day holiday weekend.
(Reporting by Tom Polansek in Chicago)
