U.S. Livestock Cold Storage Update – Jan ’15
Pork – Stocks Decline YOY for Tenth Straight Month, Finish Down 10.3%
According to USDA, Dec ’14 U.S. frozen pork stocks of 497.1 million pounds increased by 2.3% MOM but declined by 10.3% YOY. Pork stocks have trailed last year’s levels for ten consecutive months and 16 of the last 19 months. The YOY decline was the second largest in the last seven months on a percentage basis and the largest December decline in five years. The MOM increase in pork stocks of 11.3 million pounds was a counter-seasonal move as pork stocks typically decline from November – December, falling by an average of 2.7 million pounds over the past five years. Despite the MOM increase, pork stocks reached a three year low for the month of December and remain 2.0% below the five year average December pork stocks.
Beef – Stocks Increase YOY for First Time in 13 Months, Finish up 0.4%
Dec ’14 U.S. frozen beef stocks of 441.2 million pounds increased 10.9% MOM and 0.4% YOY. The YOY increase in beef stocks was the first in the last 13 months as stocks had declined by 17.1% from Dec ’13 – Nov ’14. Total beef stocks have increased by 27.3% off of the nine year low experienced in Aug ’14. The 43.4 million pound MOM gain was also significantly larger than the five year average November – December gain of 7.0 million pounds.
Chicken – Stocks Increase YOY for First Time in Ten Months, Finish up 2.0%
Dec ’14 U.S. frozen chicken stocks of 712.6 million pounds increased 2.2% MOM and 2.0% YOY. The YOY increase in chicken stocks was the first in the last ten months as stocks had declined by 10.6% YOY from Mar ’14 – Nov ’14. The MOM increase in chicken stocks of 15.5 million pounds was a counter-seasonal move as chicken stocks typically decline from November – December, falling by an average of 8.6 million pounds over the past five years. The Russian import ban continues to negatively affect U.S. broiler exports, with export volumes down 9.4% YOY in Nov ’14.