China, the world's biggest pork consumer, is no longer a viable market for top U.S. pork processor Smithfield Foods due to retaliatory tariffs by Beijing, company executives said on Tuesday.
Most Chicago lean hog futures slid on Thursday as the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported China had canceled 12,000 metric tons of U.S. pork exports in the week ending April 17.
Chicago cattle futures resumed their upward trajectory on Tuesday after Monday's dip, which had been influenced by threats by U.S. President Donald Trump to sack the Federal Reserve chair.
Cattle futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange were lower on Monday, retreating from early gains as the livestock markets found themselves caught up in the broad weakness triggered by threats from United States President Donald Trump to remove Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell.
Chicago live cattle and feeder contracts rose on Thursday as the USDA's cattle on feed report showed cattle inventory down two per cent compared to one year ago.
China's pork output rose 1.2 per cent in the first quarter of 2025 from a year earlier to 16.02 million metric tons, helped by a rise in breeding sows last year, pre-holiday slaughter and heavier hog weights.