Lean hog futures took a hit on Thursday with nearby contracts dropping 47 cents down to $1.40, though back months managed some small gains between 7 to 32 cents. Noticed the USDA national base hog price sitting at $89.74 that afternoon. The CME Lean Hog Index actually moved up 34 cents to $90.18 on March 3, which was interesting given the weakness elsewhere. Looking at the export data from that week ending 2/26, pork sales came in at 36,103 MT - down pretty sharply at 15.3% from the prior week. Mexico dominated as usual with 22,400 MT, Japan grabbed 3,800 MT. Shipments for that same week hit 37,842 MT, which was a 7.9% dip week over week. Mexico took the lion's share at 17,200 MT with Japan receiving 5,100 MT. The pork carcass cutout value climbed 60 cents to $99.22 per cwt in the Thursday PM report, though rib and picnic primals printed lower. Thursday's federally inspected hog slaughter came in at 491,000 head, bringing the weekly total to 1.944 million - that's 7,000 head below the previous week and 132,550 head down year over year. Lean hog futures contracts closed mixed: April at $95.675 off $1.40, May at $100.525 down $1.20, and June at $109.90 down $1.30. The lean hogs market is showing some real pressure right now with export demand softening.