Total US red meat supplies in freezers on July 31 were up about 1% at 948.398 million pounds from the previous month but down around 15% from last year, the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service said Monday in its monthly Cold Storage report.
Total frozen poultry supplies at the end of July were up about 4% to 1.408 billion pounds from the previous month but down slightly from a year ago, NASS said.
BEEF STOCKS MIXED
Total pounds of beef in freezers, at 439.315 million pounds, were up 11.134 million, or 2.60%, from 428.172 million the previous month but down 15.149 million, or 3.33%, from 454.464 million last year.
Boneless beef stocks on ice July 31 were 405.670 million pounds, NASS said. This was up 8.725 million, or 2.20%, from 396.945 million a month earlier but down 13.254 million, or 3.16%, from 418.924 million a year earlier.
Beef cuts in cold storage at the end of July were 33.645 million pounds, up 2.418 million, or 7.74%, from 31.227 million at the end of June but down 1.895 million, or 5.33%, from 35.540 million at the end of July, 2019.
PORK STOCKS DECLINE
Frozen pork supplies of 458.902 million pounds were down 1.271 million, or 0.28%, from 460.173 million the previous month and down 152.790 million, or 25.0%, from 611.692 million last year.
Stocks of pork bellies, at 42.352 million pounds, were down 11.488 million, or 21.3%, from 53.840 million last month and down 10.295 million, or 19.6%, from 52.647 million last year.
Total ham supplies in cold storage at the end of July came to 136.327 million pounds, up 13.334 million, or 10.8%, from 122.993 million a month earlier but down 46.228 million, or 25.3%, from 182.555 million a year earlier.
The stockpile of loins on ice totaled 37.211 million pounds, up 5.024 million, or 15.6%, from 32.187 million in the July report but down 9.116 million, or 19.7%, from 46.327 million in the August, 2019 report.
CHICKEN STOCKS RISE
Total stocks of chicken in cold storage, at 876.863 million pounds, were up 10.148 million, or 1.17%, from 866.715 million the previous month and up 28.784 million, or 3.39%, from 848.079 million last year.
Total volumes of broilers, fryers and roasters were 26.703 million pounds, up 4.245 million, or 18.9%, from 22.458 million a month earlier and up 6.293 million, or 30.8%, from 20.410 million a year earlier.
There were 79.784 million pounds of chicken leg quarters in cold storage on July 31, up 11.629 million, or 17.1%, from 68.155 million a month earlier and up 16.401 million, or 25.9%, from 63.383 million a year ago.
Chicken breasts and breast meat in storage were 203.571 million pounds, up 11.386 million, or 5.30%, from 214.957 million a month earlier and up 26.972 million, or 15.3%, from 176.599 million a year earlier.
CATTLE, BEEF RECAP
Fed cattle trading was reported in the Plains this week at $105 per cwt on a live basis, down $1 to $5 from last week. Dressed-basis trading last week was steady to up $4 at $168 to $172.
The USDA choice cutout Monday was up $1.53 per cwt at $227.47, while select was up $2.26 at $211.25. The choice/select spread narrowed to $16.22 from $16.95 with 68 loads of fabricated product sold into the spot market.
No steer or heifer contracts were tendered for delivery Monday against the Aug live cattle futures contract.
The CME Feeder Cattle Index for the seven days ended Friday was at $144.04 per cwt, up $0.14. This compares with Monday’s Aug contract settlement of $142.00 per cwt, down $0.92.