July 30, 2010

Canada's pork, beef stocks drop 13% on-year

As herd cuts spurred a drop in Canada's meat production and exports rebounded, pork and beef supplies became 13% smaller than on-year as of July 1.

Statistics Canada reported warehouses held 40,524 tonnes (89.34 million pounds) of pork, down from 46,742 tonnes in July 2009. Beef stockpiles shrank 9.8% from a year earlier to 17,467 tonnes.

Farmers, hurt by losses that began in 2005 and lasted until April, reduced their hog-breeding herds by about 19% over five years, said Victor Aideyan, a senior risk-management consultant at HISGRAIIN Commodities Inc. in London, Ontario. Government data show that Canadian pork exports rose 4.9% in the first five months of 2010 from a year earlier.

"The demand side looks very good right now across the board. Domestic demand in Canada and the US is relatively stable. The export market has really been the bright spot," Aideyan said.

According to Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada data, Canadian pork production had declined 0.5% as of July 17 from the same period in 2009. As of January 1, the Canadian cattle herd totalled 13.015 million head, the fewest since at least 2004. The government is scheduled to update livestock-inventory data next month.

Canadian chicken inventories totalled 35,543 tonnes on July 1, down 6.4% from a year earlier, Statistics Canada said today, July 30.