TL;DR:
- Poultry supplies in cold storage slightly increased from the previous month but are down year-over-year.
- Turkey stocks show significant growth, while chicken stocks decline.
- Red meat supplies in freezers rise month-over-month but see a decrease from the previous year, with pork showing notable increases.
The most recent USDA Cold Storage report for January presents a varied scenario for the status of poultry and red meat reserves in the United States freezers.
In the poultry sector, overall supplies experienced a modest 1% rise from the prior month, yet when compared to the same timeframe last year, there’s a 4% reduction.
Specifically, chicken inventories experienced a downturn, dropping 5% from the preceding month and 7% from January of the previous year. On a brighter note, turkey reserves have shown resilience and growth, marking a 24% increase since December and a 4% rise from January 2023.
Turning to red meats, the report indicates a general increase in freezer stocks by 4% from December, although this still represents an 11% fall when juxtaposed with the previous year’s figures. Beef stocks, in particular, saw a slight 1% decrease from the last month and an 11% fall from the year before.
Pork supplies, however, bucked the trend with a significant 10% month-over-month increase, despite being 10% lower than the figures from the same period last year. Within the pork category, pork belly stocks stood out with a 14% increase from December, albeit still trailing 8% behind the levels from the previous year.
This mixed bag of results from the USDA Cold Storage report underscores the dynamic nature of the meat supply chain, reflecting both seasonal variations and broader market trends.
