United States-Pork future looks bright.

UNITED STATES-PORK FUTURE LOOKS BRIGHT.

Smithfield Foods Inc said on Tuesday its hog unit, the nation’s largest, is not expected to turn a profit in its current fiscal fourth quarter, which runs through April, but hog results should be better the next fiscal year.

"We are not making money in that business. We do not expect to be making money in the fourth quarter," Smithfield Chief Executive C. Larry Pope said of the hog unit during a webcast presentation at the Consumer Analyst Group of New York (CAGNY) conference in Boca Raton, Florida.

High-priced corn and low hog prices have had hog producers losing money during the latter part of 2008 and early 2009. Smithfield’s hog unit lost $58 million in the second fiscal quarter ended in October, compared with a year-earlier profit of $18.6 million.

The company, which also makes pork and has international operations, is due to report its third-quarter results on March 12.