Source: Rita Jane Gabbett, MEATINGPLACE, 11/24/14


Total frozen poultry supplies on Oct. 31, 2014, were down 5 percent from the previous month and down 9 percent from a year ago, USDA reported in its monthly Cold Storage report.

Total stocks of chicken were up 5 percent from the previous month but down 9 percent from last year. Total pounds of turkey in freezers were down 19 percent from last month and down 10 percent from October 31, 2013.

Total red meat supplies in freezers were down 2 percent from the previous month and down 9 percent from last year. Total pounds of beef in freezers were up slightly from the previous month but down 15 percent from last year.

Frozen pork supplies were down 4 percent from the previous month and down 7 percent from last year. Stocks of pork bellies were down 18 percent from last month but up 5 percent from last year.

“This bodes well for continued high pricing across the meat spectrum, in our view,” J.P. Morgan analyst Ken Goldman wrote in a note to investors, noting that for beef, this was the tenth consecutive double-digit decline in cold storage stocks.

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