Futures for lean pork on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) on Wednesday, May 22, dipped and reached a weekly low, as the market was pressured by fears that the trade war between the US and China is far from being resolved.
Traders did not expect any significant Chinese purchases of American pork in weekly export sales published by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) early Thursday morning, May 23.
According to Reuters, trade negotiations between the United States and China, the world's largest market for pigs and pork, stalled last month, and no further meetings are planned.
China is expected to increase pork imports this year, as its domestic pig population has declined significantly due to the deadly African swine fever. The extreme import duties from the United States introduced by Beijing last year as part of the battle of tariff rates "eye for eye, tooth for tooth" remain in effect.
June CME lean pork futures closed 0.450 cents lower to 89.650 cents a pound, while actively trading July pigs fell 0.325 cents to 91.050 cents.
After a two-day price increase, pork carcassing on Wednesday, May 22, fell in price by $ 2.24 to $ 84.83 per ton, which is $ 1.98 less than a week ago.
