CME Pork Cutout Index

  • 26 Aug 2020
  • By CME Group

About the index

While the Lean Hog Index reflects the prices paid for hogs in the US, the Pork Cutout Index reflects the prices paid for pork. A “cutout” is the approximate value of a hog calculated using the prices paid for wholesale, or primal, cuts of pork. The values, or cuts, used to calculate the pork cutout include the loin, butt, picnic, rib, ham, and belly.

The CME Pork Cutout Index price gives an indication of the overall supply and demand situation of the wholesale pork market.

The calculation

The CME Pork Cutout Index is a five-business day weighted average of prices as reported by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) and published in its “National Daily Pork Report FOB Plant – Negotiated Sales – Afternoon” (LM_PK602).

The index calculation begins by multiplying the daily number of loads by the daily carcass price to determine the daily total value. The same process is then used with the data for five consecutive business days.

To determine the CME Pork Cutout Index value, the sum of five consecutive daily total values is divided by the sum of five consecutive daily total load counts. The result is a five-business day weighted average of pork carcass values quotes in cents per pound (same as dollars per hundredweight).

Example calculation of the index for the five business days ending on Friday, December 13, 2019:

Date Loads Carcass Value Daily Value (Loads x Carcass Value)
12/13/2019 331.73 81.88 $27,162.0524
12/12/2019 284.82 81.66 $23,258.4012
12/11/2019 316.04 83.19 $26,291.3676
12/10/2019 386.78 83.12 $32,149.1536
12/09/2019 282.48 81.98 $23,157.7104
Sum 1,601.85   $132,018.6852

The sum of the five daily values is $132,018.6852. This is then divided by the sum of the five daily loads, 1,601.85, to obtain the index price of 82.4163, which is rounded to 82.42.

Calculated Index Price Rounded Index Price
$132,018.6852 / 1,601.85 = $82.4163 $82.42

Facts about pork:

  • Pork is the most consumed protein in the world.
  • The US produced 27.6 billion pounds of pork in 2019.
  • Over a quarter of US pork is exported to countries around the world.
  • The most consumed pork product in the US is bacon.

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