News

Beef stocks down on month while pork rises

USDA reports red meat in cold storage as of the end of September were up 5% on the month and 12% on the year at 944.544 million pounds.

Overall, the numbers reflect solid demand for beef and much slower than expected demand for pork.

Beef came out at 428.081 million pounds, down slightly on the month and up 8% on the year. The five year average for the September beef build-up is 9 million pounds and the trade was expecting a month to month increase in total supply.

Pork stocks were pegged at 490.713 million pounds, up 11% from last month and 16% above last year. That works out to a month to month increase of almost 48 million pounds, well above the five year average of 25.5 million and considerably larger than expected.

Frozen poultry came out at 1.194 billion pounds, down 3% on the month and nearly unchanged on the year. Chicken made up 673.583 million pounds, down 3% from last month and 5% from last year, with turkey at 515.375 million pounds, and duck at 5.085 million pounds.