Source:  Rita Jane Gabbett, MEATINGPLACE.COM, 5/23/11

Total frozen poultry supplies on April 30 were up 8 percent from the previous month and up 6 percent from a year ago, according to USDA’s monthly Cold Storage report.

Total stocks of chicken were up 7 percent from the previous month and up 18 percent from last year. Total pounds of turkey in freezers were up 12 percent from last month but down 14 percent from April 30, 2010.
Total red meat supplies in freezers were down 3 percent from the previous month but up 15 percent from last year.

Frozen pork supplies were down 5 percent from the previous month but up 13 percent from last year. Stocks of pork bellies were up 1 percent from last month and up 7 percent from last year.

Total beef supplies were down 1 percent from a month ago but up 20 percent from a year ago.

J.P.Morgan analyst Ken Goldman called the report negative for shares of protein companies. In a note to investors he noted some protein company CEOs at a conference last week cited recent sluggishness in demand, "a notion evinced by the generally heightened storage levels in this report."

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