Total red meat supplies in freezers on June 30 were down about 6% from the previous month and down about 14% from last year, the USDA said in its latest Cold Storage report.
Total pounds of beef in freezers were down about 3% from the previous month and down about 20% from last year.
Frozen pork supplies were down about 8% from the previous month and down about 9% from last year. Stocks of pork bellies were down about 14% from last month but up about 33% from last year.
Total frozen poultry supplies on June 30 were up about 5% from the previous month and up about 10% from a year ago.
Total chicken stocks were up about 3% from the previous month and up about 11% from last year.
Total pounds of turkey in freezers were up about 9% from last month and up about 6% from June 30, 2022.
BEEF STOCKS DOWN
Total stocks of beef in cold storage June 30 came to 411.877 million pounds, down 13.783 million, or 3.24%, from 425.660 million a month earlier and down 104.908 million, or 20.3%, from 516.785 million a year earlier.
Of that, 375.657 million pounds was classed as “boneless” beef, down 9.446 million, or 2.45%, from 385.103 million a month earlier and down 113.339 million, or 23.2%, from 488.996 million a year earlier.
Another 36.220 million pounds was classed as “beef cuts,” down 4.337 million, or 10.7%, from 40.557 million a month earlier and down 11.569 million, or 24.2%, from 47.789 million a year earlier.
PORK STOCKS DECLINE
Frozen pork stocks on June 30 also were down, coming in at 490.192 million pounds, down 41.565 million, or 7.82%, from 531.757 million a month earlier and down 48.908 million, or 9.07%, from 539.100 million a year earlier.
Pork bellies on ice totaled 70.573 million pounds, down 11.958 million, or 14.5%, from 82.531 million a month ago but up 17.390, or 32.7%, from 53.183 million a year ago.
Frozen hams totaled 137.666 million pounds, up 507,000, or 0.37%, from 137.159 million a month earlier but down 1.617 million, or 1.16%, from 139.283 million a year earlier.
Pork loins in cold storage totaled 34.950 million pounds, up 2.060 million, or 6.26%, from 32.890 million on May 31 but down 290,000, or 0,82%, from 35.240 million on June 30, 2022.
Frozen ribs totaled 62.721 million pounds, down 16.661 million, or 21.0%, from 79.382 million a month earlier and down 45.150 million, or 42.4%, from 108.871 million a year earlier.
CHICKEN STOCKS RISE
Frozen chicken supplies totaled 861.433 million pounds, up 26.956 million, or 3.23%, from 834.477 million in May and up 87.244 million, or 11.3%, from 774.189 million a year ago.
CATTLE, BEEF RECAP
The USDA reported formula and contract base prices for live FOB steers and heifers this week ranged from $179.20 per cwt to $190.48, compared with last week’s range of $178.00 to $188.83 per cwt. FOB dressed steers, and heifers went for $284.31 per cwt to $292.45, compared with $280.35 to $289.99.
The USDA choice cutout Wednesday was down $0.88 per cwt at $303.34 while select was up $2.26 at $279.81. The choice/select spread narrowed to $23.53 from $26.67 with 99 loads of fabricated product and 16 loads of trimmings and grinds sold into the spot market.
The USDA said basis bids for corn from feeders in the Southern Plains were unchanged at $1.90 to $2.05 a bushel over the Sep corn contract, which settled at $5.40 1/4 a bushel, down $0.17 1/4.
The CME Feeder Cattle Index for the seven days ended Tuesday was $242.01 per cwt, up $0.39. This compares with Wednesday’s Aug contract settlement of $244.20 per cwt, up $0.97 and Sep’s $247.45, up $1.10.