Total red meat supplies in US freezers on Nov. 30 were down about 4% from the previous month but up about 10% from last year, said the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service, in its monthly Cold Storage report Thursday.
Total frozen poultry supplies on Nov. 30 were down about 11% from the previous month but up 18% from a year ago, the NASS said.
BEEF STOCKS UP
Total pounds of beef in freezers, at 521.869 million pounds, were up 11.597 million, or 2.27%, from 510.272 million the previous month and up 31.455 million, or 6.41%, from 490.414 million last year.
Of that, 44.693 million pounds of “beef cuts” were on ice at the end of November, down 5.170 million, or 10.4%, from 49.863 million a month earlier but up 5.918 million, or 15.3%, from 38.775 million a year earlier.
Another 477.176 million pounds of “boneless” beef was reported in storage, up 16.767 million, or 3.64%, from 460.409 million a month earlier but down 25.537 million, or 5.65%, from 451.639 million a year earlier.
PORK SUPPLIES MIXED
Frozen pork supplies, totaling 454.200 million pounds, were down 55.469 million, or 10.9%, from 509.669 million the previous month but up 52.011 million, or 12.9%, from 402.189 million last year.
Stocks of pork bellies, at 54.359 million pounds, were up 14.112 million, or 35.1%, from 40.247 million last month and up 29.135 million, or 115.5%, from 25.224 million last year.
Also included in the total were 55.111 million pounds of hams, down 66.513 million, or 54.7%, from 121.624 million last month and down 21.677 million, or 28.2%, from 76.788 million last year.
Pork loins in cold storage totaled 39.957 million pounds, up 568,000, or 1.44%, from 39.389 million a month earlier and up 1.435 million, or 3.73%, from 38.522 million a year earlier.
Frozen pork ribs totaled 112.109 million pounds, up 2.056 million, or 1.87%, from 110.053 million a month ago and up 36.512 million, or 48.3%, from 75.597 million a year ago.
POULTRY STOCKS ALSO MIXED
Total stocks of chicken, at 906.310 million pounds, were up 14.984 million, or 1.68%, from 891.326 million the previous month and up 161.449 million, or 21.7%, from 744.861 million last year.
Of that, 11.228 million pounds were classed as whole birds, down 2.563 million, or 18.6%, from 13.791 a month earlier and down 3.161 million, or 22.0%, from 14.389 million a year earlier.
Total pounds of turkey in freezers, at 141.369 million, were down 142.227 million, or 50.2%, from 283.596 million last month but up 1.699 million, or 1.22%, from 139.670 million on Nov. 30, 2021.
CATTLE, BEEF RECAP
The USDA reported formula and contract base prices for live FOB steers and heifers this week ranged from $156.04 to $157.32 per cwt, compared with last week’s range of $155.00 to $158.55. FOB dressed steers, and heifers went for $243.82 to $249.01 per cwt, versus $243.78 to $250.21.
The USDA choice cutout Thursday was up $0.35 per cwt at $265.21 while select was up $5.52 at $241.81. The choice/select spread narrowed to $23.40 from $28.57 with 80 loads of fabricated product and 11 loads of trimmings and grinds sold into the spot market.
The USDA said basis bids for corn from feeders in the Southern Plains were steady at $1.90 to $2.10 a bushel over the Mar futures and for southwest Kansas were unchanged at $1.00 over Mar, which settled at $6.60 1/2, down $0.01 3/4.
No cattle contracts were tendered for delivery Thursday.
The CME Feeder Cattle Index for the seven days ended Wednesday was $177.83 per cwt down $0.31. This compares with Thursday’s Jan contract settlement of $183.97, up $0.15.