The resurgence in COVID-19 in Arizona, Florida, Texas and California will delay restoration of normal traffic in restaurants and create more misery for the pork industry. Universities and institutional dining will remain closed reducing the demand for pork. As a result of reduced production year-to-date annual pork consumption is now estimated at 50 pounds per capita compared to 52 pounds in 2019. Although packing capacity has apparently been restored to within 90 percent of pre-COVID levels, there is a backlog of hogs on farms. The Wall Street Journal reported that wholesale hog carcasses averaged $28 per hundredweight down from $60 in April.
Lean hog futures traded seven percent down on the CME after release of the quarterly USDA Hogs and Pigs Report.