April 23, 2012

US March pork inventories down 10 million pounds, beef up

US government officials said Friday (Apr 20) that as of end-March, pork inventories were down 10 million pounds from a month ago while beef stocks grew 37.1 million.

The USDA, in its monthly cold-storage report, said 612.7 million pounds of pork were in freezer warehouses as of March 31, a decrease of 1.6% from the previous month but up 6.7% from a year ago.

Ahead of Friday's release, analysts on average expected pork supplies in cold storage to be nearly 638 million pounds, or about 2.0% above the previous month and 11.0% above a year ago.

US pork output in March was the third largest in history, according to USDA data, said Bob Brown, private analyst in Edmond, Okla. He forecasts pork output to average the second largest ever for the next three months based on current projections for hog supplies and carcass weights.

Domestic demand in March was not as brisk as had been expected, especially with the mild weather conditions that allowed for early outdoor grilling, analysts said.

The pork carcass composite value fell US$4.92 a hundredweight, or 5.8%, during the month, adding to the cautious views about demand. Yet, frozen stocks declined, pointing to another strong month for exports, analysts said.

Beef stocks in March rose 7.9% from the previous month and were 62.4 million pounds above a year ago. The agency reported 507.9 million pounds in cold storage. Analysts had predicted inventories from 445.9-463.3 million pounds with an average of 456.4 million.

The USDA reported pork bellies in cold storage at 66.1 million pounds as of March 31, up 7.3% from a month ago and 25.9% above last year's level. Ham stocks fell 29.3% from the previous month, a change of 32.3 million pounds and 26.0 below the year-ago figure of 105.1 million pounds.

Chicken stocks declined 3.8% in March and were down 17.1% from a year ago. Production has stabilised in recent months and remains below a year ago.