Total red meat supplies in freezers at the end of January were up about 5% from the previous month and up about 9% from last year, according to the USDA’s monthly Cold Storage report Friday.
Total frozen poultry supplies on Jan. 31, were up about 3% from the previous month and up about 13% from a year ago, the report said.
BEEF STOCKS MIXED
Total pounds of beef in freezers, at 532.733 million pounds, were down 11.222 million, or 2.06%, from 543.955 million the previous month but up 7.009 million, or 1.33%, from 525.724 million last year.
Of that, 491.136 million were classed as “boneless” beef, down 7.089 million, or 1.42%, from 498.225 million a month earlier but up 7.620 million, or 1.58%, from 483.516 million a year earlier.
Another 41.597 million pounds was listed as “beef cuts,” down 4.133 million, or 9.04%, from 45.730 million a month earlier and down 611,000, or 1.45%, from 42.208 million a year earlier.
PORK STOCKS RISE
Frozen pork supplies, at 517.727 million pounds, were up 61.348 million, or 13.4%, from 456.379 million the previous month and up 83.312 million, or 19.2%, from 434.415 million last year.
Stocks of pork bellies were 70.134 million pounds, up 7.119 million, or 11.3%, from 63.015 million last month and up 25.427 million, or 56.9%, from 44.707 million last year.
Hams in cold storage totaled 78.340 million pounds, up 24.926 million, or 46.7%, from 53.414 million a month ago and up 3.633 million, or 4.86%, from 74.707 million a year ago.
Total pork loins on ice at the end of January came to 43.932 million pounds, up 7.607 million, or 20.9%, from 36.325 million a month earlier and up 6.296 million, or 16.7%, from 37.636 million a year earlier.
Frozen pork rib supplies totaled 116.688 million pounds, up 4.193 million, or 3.73%, from 112.495 million a month earlier and up 20.574 million, or 21.4%, from 96.114 million a year earlier.
CHICKEN SUPPLIES MIXED
Total stocks of frozen chicken were 866.111 million pounds, down 65.733 million, or 7.05%, from 931.844 million the previous month but up 94.807 million, or 12.3%, from 771.304 million last year.
Whole chickens in freezers totaled 13.554 million pounds, down 403,000, or 2.89%, from 13.957 million in the prior month but up 45,000, or 0.33%, from 13.509 million the prior year.
Breasts and breast meat on ice totaled 241.617 million pounds, down 8.642 million, or 3.45%, from 250.259 million a month earlier but up 91.675 million, or 56.1%, from 163.496 million a year earlier.
Total pounds of turkey in freezers, at 284.506 million pounds were up from 189.715 million last month and from 243.749 million last year.
CATTLE, BEEF RECAP
The USDA reported formula and contract base prices for live FOB steers and heifers last week ranged from $160.90 to $162.08 per cwt, compared with the previous week’s range of $159.00 to $161.05. FOB dressed steers, and heifers went for $251.10 to $258.71 per cwt, versus $244.44 to $255.60.
The USDA choice cutout Friday was down $0.63 per cwt at $287.28 while select was up $1.21 at $277.08. The choice/select spread narrowed to $10.20 from $12.04 with 70 loads of fabricated product and 24 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 $1.50 to $1.60 a bushel over the Mar corn contract. Bids in Kansas were steady at $0.75 over Mar, which settled at $6.50 a bushel, down $0.10 1/4.
No cattle contracts were tendered for delivery on Friday.
The CME Feeder Cattle Index for the seven days ended Thursday was $182.77 per cwt, up $0.20. This compares with Friday’s Mar contract settlement of $189.07 per cwt, down $0.15.