Commodities : Pork Futures Prices Mixed

The pork futures market on Tuesday acted out the latest findings of the government’s pig survey with widely divergent price movements, but the accuracy of the report is in question.

The nearby hog delivery months were sharply lower, at times trading down the daily limit allowed on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. This reflected the report’s finding that farmers are holding significantly more hogs than previously believed.

On the other hand, the deferred months were sharply higher, with some contracts up the 1 1/2 cents-a-pound limit, responding to a smaller breeding stock--and therefore fewer animals in the months ahead--than had been projected.

But the problem with Monday’s survey, analysts said, is that it doesn’t square with the previous one, issued three months ago.

“The September report found almost a million more hogs that could have been estimated based on the June 1 findings,” said Chuck Levitt, an analyst in Chicago with Shearson Lehman Bros.

He said the Agriculture Department statisticians were unable to provide an explantion for the disparity. The June report put the spring farrowings down 11% from a year earlier.

“One of the reports has to be wrong,” he said.