April 23, 2020

USDA: US frozen pork supplies dropped in March, expected to fall further

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) said the country's frozen pork supply dropped in March before meat processors shut down slaughterhouses due to COVID-19, resulting in tighter supplies, reported Reuters.

Major pork and beef plants have been shut down due to COVID-19, leading to decreased meat output and livestock backlog at farms.

WH Group owned Smithfield Foods, the biggest pork processor in the world, said the United States said supplies for grocers is getting tighter.

According to USDA data, cold-storage facilities have 621.9 million pounds of pork (as of March 31, 2020), a 27 million drop from February.

Rich Nelson, chief strategist for broker Allendale said the decline is more than the usual 11 million pounds per month over the last five years, estimating that inventories would see a further 20 to 40 million pounds decrease in April. Normally inventories would see a rise of about 27 million pounds.

As for beef stocks in cold storage, the USDA reported 502.4 million pounds (as of March 31), a 8 million pound increase from the month prior. Nelson said slaughtering was bigger than expected as stocks have decline about 18 million pounds, and expects a further 40 to 60 million pound decline in April.

Frozen pork belly supplies increased to 78.8 million pounds (as of March 31) from 74.3 million in February. These are supplies used in restaurants and foodservice. Boneless pork loin inventories fell from 30.6 million pounds to 27.1 million pounds. This type of meat is usually sold in retail.

-      Reuters