Total frozen red meat supplies were down about 2% on Nov. 30 from a month earlier and down about 12% from last year, the USDA said in its monthly Cold Storage report Tuesday.
Beef stocks were up while pork inventories declined, the report said.
An analyst said beef stocks go along with what the US isn’t exporting, while lower pork stocks aren’t surprising with strong sales and exports this year.
Total poultry stocks were down from a month earlier and from a year ago. Total stocks of chicken were down from a month earlier and down from last year, while turkey stocks were down from a month earlier and down from Nov. 30, 2019.
BEEF STOCKS UP
Total supplies of beef on ice Nov. 30 were 511.460 million pounds, up 11.221 million, or 2.24%, from 500.239 million on Oct. 31 and up 33.199 million, or 6.94%, from 478.261 million on Nov. 30, 2019.
That included 473.921 million pounds of boneless beef. This was up 12.773 million, or 2.77%, from 461.148 million a month earlier and up 28.392 million, 6.37%, from 445.529 million a year earlier.
Beef cuts in cold storage totaled 37.539 million pounds, down 1.552 million, or 3.97%, from 39.091 million a month earlier but up 4.807 million, or 14.7%, from 32.732 million a year earlier.
PORK STOCKS DOWN OVERALL
While stocks of frozen pork were mixed from cut to cut, they were lower overall, the report said.
Total pork inventories were 414.133 million pounds, down 32.982 million, or 7.38%, from 447.115 million a month earlier and down 160.707 million, or 28.0%, from 574.840 million a year earlier.
Frozen inventories of pork bellies totaled 23.111 million pounds, up 4.086 million, or 21.5%, from 19.025 million a month earlier but down 31.305 million, or 57.5%, from 54.416 million a year earlier.
Hams in cold storage totaled 74.722 million pounds, down 48.602 million, or 39.4%, from 123.324 million a month earlier and down 35.913 million, or 32.5%, from 110.635 million a year earlier.
Total pork loins in cold storage, at 35.685 million pounds, were down 6.162 million, or 14.7%, from 41.847 million a month earlier and down 13.034, or 26.8%, from 48.719 million a year earlier.
POULTRY STOCKS DECLINE OVERALL
Total frozen poultry stocks amounted to 1.079 billion pounds, down 212 million, or 16.4%, from 1.291 billion a month earlier and down 125 million, or 10.4%, from 1.204 billion a year ago.
Chicken supplies on ice came to 882.432 million pounds, down 28.898 million, or 3.17%, from 911.330 million a month earlier and down 96.894, or 9.89%, from 979.326 million a year earlier.
CATTLE, BEEF RECAP
Fed cattle trade was reported in the Plains last week at $105 to $108 per cwt on a live basis, steady to down $1 from the previous week. Dressed-basis trading was at $165 to $166, down $3 to $4.
The USDA choice cutout Tuesday was down $0.25 per cwt at $210.67, while select was up $2.33 at $199.59. The choice/select spread narrowed to $11.08 from $13.66 with 102 loads of fabricated product and 43 loads of trimmings and grinds sold into the spot market.
The USDA reported Tuesday that basis bids for corn from livestock feeding operations in the Southern Plains were unchanged at $1.21 a bushel over the Mar CBOT futures contract, which settled at $4.43 1/2 a bushel, up $0.03 1/2.
No cattle contracts were tendered for delivery against the Dec contract Tuesday.
The CME Feeder Cattle Index for the seven days ended Monday was $139.74 per cwt, up $0.18. This compares with Tuesday’s Jan contract settlement of $139.90 per cwt, down $0.72.