Large inventories of pork were in freezers during June, according to the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service's “Cold Storage” report. The amount of pork penciled to 632.2 million pounds on June 30. Frozen pork supplies were down 3% from the previous month but up 18% from last year.
Slow pork exports to Mexico boosted frozen ham inventories 13.7% over last month and 27% larger than five-year average. On the other hand, belly stocks at 44.5 million pounds were more than twice the average reduction over the past five years, reported Steve Meyer and Len Steiner in the Daily Livestock. As stated in the report, stocks of pork bellies were down 31% from last month and down 47% from last year.
Overall, total red meat supplies in freezers were down 3% from the previous month but up 23% from last year. In comparison, total pounds of beef in freezers were down 2% from the previous month but up 30% from last year. Chicken stocks totaled over 722.5 million pounds, climbing 22.2% higher from last year.
