USDA’s monthly cold storage report showed larger than expected supplies of pork and beef along with a big cut in poultry.
Beef stocks were pegged at 482.070 million pounds, 4% above last month and 5% larger than last year including a 7% year to year increase in boneless beef with Dow Jones Newswires citing a general slowdown in demand. Pork came out at 584.431, 8% more than a month ago and a 21% jump from a year ago due to a slowdown in sales to China and weaker domestic demand. The total amount of red meat in cold storage at the end of January was 1.089 billion pounds, up 7% on the month and 13% on the year.
Total poultry was reported at 909.927 million pounds, 8% higher than last month but down 11% from last year on a slowdown in domestic production. Chicken made up the bulk of the total at 609.776 million pounds, 3% lower than a month ago and 21% lower than a year ago, with turkey up sharply on both the month and the year at 297.632 million pounds.
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