Total red meat supplies in US freezers as of July 31 were up 3% from a month earlier and up 6% from last year, and total frozen poultry supplies were up 1% from June 30 and up 5% from a year earlier, the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service said today.
The monthly Cold Storage report showed total pounds of beef in freezers were up 8% from the previous month and up 12% from last year.
Frozen pork supplies were down 2% from the previous month and down 1% from last year. Stocks of pork bellies were down 28% from last month but were up 119% from last year.
BEEF SUPPLIES RISING
The total amount of beef in cold storage at the end of July totaled 485.007 million pounds, up 36.422 million, or 8.12%, from 448.585 million at the end of June and up 53.169 million, or 12.3%, from 431.838 million on July 31, 2017.
The volume of beef cuts in cold storage for the report was 40.238 million pounds, down 1.216 million, or 2.93%, from 41.454 million a month earlier but up 6.473 million, or 19.2%, from 33.765 million a year earlier.
While there are indications via the decline in month-to-month stocks of beef cuts, that wholesale demand for some beef cuts associated with the Labor Day holiday is rising, mounting total inventories on ice suggests to some analysts that notable price increases through the fall might be difficult to achieve.
Boneless beef stocks totaled 444.769 million pounds, up 37.638 million, or 9.24%, from 407.131 million a month earlier and up 46.698, or 11.7%, from 398.071 million a year earlier.
PORK STOCKS DECLINE
Unlike beef, total frozen pork stocks declined over the latest month, with bellies dropping sharply.
Total pork in cold storage amounted to 548.053 million pounds, down 13.826 million, or 2.46%, from 561.879 million a month earlier and down 6.801 million, or 1.23%, from 554.854 million a year earlier.
Total pounds of pork bellies in cold storage were 38.542 million, down 14.737 million, or 27.7%, from 53.279 million on June 30 but up 20.940 million, or 119.0%, from 17.602 million on July 31, 2017.
But looking at total pounds on ice could be misleading, an analyst said. Many of the various cuts of pork in cold storage were down. Hams were up from a month earlier, possibly because of export troubles to Mexico, but loins were down, as were ribs and butts.
CHICKEN STOCKS UP FROM 2017
Total stocks of chicken in cold storage amounted to 877.595 million pounds, down 10.389 million, or 1.17%, from 887.984 million a month earlier but up 79.475 million, or 9.96%, from 798.120 million a year earlier.
Stocks of most chicken items were down from a month earlier but up from a year ago.
CATTLE, BEEF RECAP
280 head of fed cattle traded Wednesday on the Livestock Exchange Video Auction at $109.50 per cwt, down from the last sale at $110.07 three weeks earlier.
Cash cattle traded Wednesday at $109 to $109.50 per cwt on a live basis, steady to down $1 from last week. Dressed business was done at $172 per cwt, down $1 to $2 from last week.
The USDA choice cutout Wednesday was up $0.47 per cwt at $214.04, while select was down $0.11 at $203.97. The choice/select spread widened to $10.07 from $9.49 with 73 loads of fabricated product sold into the spot market.
The CME Feeder Cattle index for the seven days ended Tuesday, was $149.84 per cwt, up $0.41. This compares with Wednesday’s Aug settlement of $148.70, down $0.47.