Total red meat supplies in US freezers on April 30 were up slightly from the April report but down about 5% from last year, the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service said in its monthly Cold Storage report Wednesday.
Total frozen poultry supplies were up about 2% from a month ago and up slightly from a year ago, NASS said. Total stocks of chicken were up about 3% from last month and last year.
ADMIS Senior Livestock Analyst said in a quick comment about the report showed that beef packers are not storing product. Federally inspected cattle slaughter for the year to date is up 1.3%, but carcass weights are down. The report was supportive to the market, he said, and could help counter expected bearishness from Friday’s scheduled Cattle on Feed report.
For pork, hog slaughter is up 2.2% year to date, Lehner said, yet exports have been less and pork in storage is less than a year ago.
Less pork in storage than a year ago but up slightly from March when China had a big buy in March could be friendly to futures as well, he said. With Mexico dropping tariffs, the report isn’t bearish because April supplies were up 2%.
BEEF SUPPLIES DECLINE
Total pounds of beef in cold storage were reported at 430.346 million pounds, down 21.592 million, or 4.78%, from 451.938 million a month earlier and down 40.814 million, or 8.66%, from 471.160 million last year.
Boneless beef stocks on ice were listed at 396.584 million pounds, down 25.726 million, or 6.09%, from 422.310 million a month earlier and down 38.612 million, or 8.87%, from 435.196 million a year earlier.
Frozen inventories of beef cuts totaled 33.762 million pounds on April 30, up 4.134 million, or 14.0%, from 29.628 million on March 31 but down 2.202 million, or 6.12%, from 35.964 million on April 30, 2018.
PORK STORES MIXED
Frozen pork supplies of 621.863 million pounds were up 13.488 million, or 2.22%, from 608.375 million a month earlier but down 12,859 million, or 2.03%, from 634.722 million last year.
Stocks of pork bellies totaling 61.123 million pounds, were up 2.340 million, or 3.98%, from 58.783 million last month but down 3.440 million, or 5.33%, from 64.563 million last year.
Hams in cold storage totaled 121.367 million pounds, up 17.881 million, or 17.3%, from 103.486 million a month ago and up 9.222 million, or 8.22%, from 112.145 million a year ago.
Ribs on ice totaled 146.937 million pounds, up 6.157 million, or 4.37%, from 140.780 million a month earlier and up 3.220 million, or 2.24%, from 143.717 million a year earlier.
CHICKEN STOCKS CLIMB
Total stores of chicken in cold storage came to 893.554 million pounds, up 25.314 million, or 2.92%, from 868.240 million a month ago and up 26.020 million, or 3.00%, from 867.534 million a year ago.
Turkey stocks, at 471.233 million pounds, were up from 470.341 million last month and up from 493.844 million last year.
CATTLE, BEEF RECAP
Cash cattle trading was reported Wednesday in the Plains at $115 per cwt on a live basis, down $2 to $3 from last week. Dressed-basis trading was seen at $185 to $186 per cwt, down $4 to $5.
The USDA choice cutout Wednesday was up $0.17 per cwt at $219.75, while select was down $0.77 at $205.81. The choice/select spread widened to $13.94 from $13.00 with 128 loads of fabricated product sold into the spot market.
The CME Feeder Cattle index for the seven days ended Tuesday was $132.16 per cwt, down $0.09 from the previous day. This compares with Wednesday’s May contract settlement of $135.45, up $1.07.