USDA released the results of its latest survey of refrigerated warehouses on Tuesday afternoon (21 April) and the report showed that at the end of March, inventories of beef, pork and chicken products continued to trend below year ago levels, a result of a sharp reduction in US meat production but also due to efforts from end users to reduce freezer stocks and free up financial resources.

The impact of the reduction in supplies has been more pronounced in the chicken industry, whereby the cutbacks in slaughter and relatively good export volume have caused ending inventories to decline both compared to year ago and five year average levels. Below are some of the highlights from the report.

• Pork: Total pork freezer stocks as of 31 March were 593.2 million pounds, 9.8 per cent lower than a year ago but still 12.1% higher than the five year average. Ham stocks fell sharply in March, partly due to smaller production volumes and possibly because of good exports to Mexico. Also, Easter Sunday this year was on 12 April, so there was some drawdown in inventories at the end of March as product was processed and transferred to distribution centers and stores. Total ham stocks were 73.3 million pounds, 22.7 per cent lower than a year ago but still 11.9 per cent higher than the five year average. Pork belly stocks moved counterseasonally lower in March. Normally stocks build up into the spring as end users prepare for the high demand summer business. However, 31 March pork belly inventories were 73.3 million pounds, 3.1 per cent lower than the previous month and 25.9 per cent lower than a year ago. Belly stocks still are 5.6 per cent higher than the five year average.
  
  
• Beef & Poultry: Total beef stocks at the end of March were 422.5 million pounds, 1 per cent lower than a year ago but 1.7 per cent higher than the five year average. Total chicken stocks were 634.7 million pounds, 17 per cent lower than a year ago and 9.6 per cent lower than the five year average. This was the smaller chicken freezer inventory level since May 2007. Turkey inventories was the only category among the main species to still show an increase over year ago levels. Total turkey stocks at the end of March were 508.0 million pounds, 18.6 per cent higher than a year ago and 22.6 per cent higher than the five year average.

Further Reading

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You can view the full report by clicking here.