Total red meat supplies in freezers on March 31 were down about 1% from the previous month and down about 4% from last year, the USDA said Thursday in its monthly Cold Storage report.
Total frozen poultry supplies on March 31 were up about 1% from the previous month but down about 3% from a year ago, the Cold Storage report said.
BEEF STORES MIXED
Total pounds of beef in freezers, at 426.882 million pounds, were down 9.014 million, or 2.07%, from 435.896 million the previous month but up 2.973 million, or 0.70%, from 423.909 million last year.
Of that, 40.357 million pounds was classed as “beef cuts,” up 2.646 million, or 7.02%, from 37.711 million the previous month and up 3.727 million, or 10.2%, from 36.630 million last year.
Another 386.525 million pounds was classed as “boneless” beef, down 11.660 million, or 2.93%, from 398.185 million at the end of February and down 754,000, or 0.19%, from 387.279 million a year ago.
PORK STOCKS DOWN
Frozen pork supplies, at 422.254 million pounds, were down 1.229 million pounds, or 0.29%, from 423.483 million the previous month and down 40.833 million, or 8.82%, from 463.087 million last year.
Stocks of pork bellies, at 55.494 million pounds, were up 6.908 million, or 14.2%, from 48.586 million last month but down 19.015 million, or 25.5%, from 74.509 million last year.
Frozen hams totaled 73.460 million pounds, down 10.145 million, or 12.1%, from 83.605 million a month earlier but up 3.172 million, or 4.51%, from 70.288 million a year earlier.
Pork loins on ice totaled 36.816 million pounds, up 2.802 million, or 8.24%, from 34.014 million in February but down 3.168 million, or 7.93%, from 39.984 million a year ago.
Frozen pork ribs, at 92.471 million pounds, were up 4.452 million, or 5.06%, from 88.019 million a month ago and up 2.736 million, or 3.05%, from 89.735 million a year ago.
CHICKEN STOCKS MIXED
Total stocks of chicken, at 787.076 million pounds, were down 6.411 million, or 0.81%, from 793.487 million the previous month but up 23.553 million, or 3.08%, from 763.523 million last year.
Included in the total were 9.635 million pounds of whole broilers, up 572,000, or 6.31%, from 9.063 million a month earlier but down 1.853 million, or 16.1%, from 11.488 million a year earlier.
Another 251.940 million pounds were breasts and breast meat, down 1.511 million, or 0.60%, from 253.451 million in February but up 30.431 million, or 13.7%, from 221.509 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 $207.38 per cwt to $214.72, compared with last week’s range of $205.00 to $214.53 per cwt. FOB dressed steers, and heifers went for $321.91 per cwt to $333.53, compared with $322.23 to $329.95.
The USDA choice cutout Thursday was up $1.73 per cwt at $333.70 while select was up $1.83 at $316.35. The choice/select spread narrowed to $17.35 from $17.45 with 85 loads of fabricated product and 16 loads of trimmings and grinds sold into the spot market.
The USDA-listed the weighted average wholesale price for fresh 90% lean beef was $374.74 per cwt, and 50% beef was $114.12.
The USDA said basis bids for corn from feeders in the Southern Plains were unchanged at $1.18 to $1.30 a bushel over the May corn contract, which settled at $4.77 1/4, up $0.05 1/4.
No live cattle were tendered for delivery Thursday.
The CME Feeder Cattle Index for the seven days ended Wednesday was $287.24 per cwt, down $1.73. This compares with Thursday’s May contract settlement of $289.07, up $0.72.