Hog futures rose to the highest price in almost three weeks on signs that U.S. supplies of bacon are trailing consumer demand. Cattle declined.
Wholesale pork bellies, used to make bacon, jumped 7.9 percent yesterday to $1.3321 a pound, the highest price since at least January 1998, U.S. data show. Stockpiles monitored by the Chicago Mercantile Exchange fell to 14.109 million pounds last week, down 70 percent from 2009. Bacon demand tends to peak in the Midwest in August, when tomatoes are ready for harvest and more people eat bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwiches.
“The bacon market will probably lead pork products higher for the next several weeks,” said Paul Beere, a market adviser at Prime Agricultural Services in Brookfield, Wisconsin. Low supplies are “due to herd liquidation” and a rebound in demand, he said.
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