Cold Storage Report: Beef, pork stocks exaggerate seasonal moves
USDA’s Cold Storage Report showed beef stocks declined more than average, while pork inventories climbed more than normal during April. That not only speaks to slaughter levels over the past month, but also demand.
Beef stocks in frozen storage totaled 448.0 million lbs. at the end of April, down 29.8 million lbs. (6.2%) from March, nearly double the five-year average decline of 15.1 million lbs. during the month. Beef inventories dropped 84.2 million lbs. (15.8%) from the April 2022 record and 24.4 million lbs. (5.2%) from the five-year average.
Pork stocks at 565.5 million lbs. increased 31.6 million lbs. (5.9%) from March compared with the five-year average rise of 16.9 million pounds. Inventories increased 32.1 million lbs. (6.0%) from last year but were 6.1 million lbs. (1.1%) under the five-year average for April.
Total poultry stocks at 1.201 billion lbs. climbed 6.2 million lbs. (5.2%) from March and were 98.1 million lbs. (8.9%) above last year. Chicken breast meat inventories at 225.0 million lbs. dropped 8.1 million lbs. (3.5%) from March but were still 47.3 million lbs. (26.6%) above last year.
