Red meat supplies in frozen storage increased 23.2 million lbs. during December to 878.4 million lbs., though that was still 50.7 million lbs. (5.5%) under year-ago. It’s typical for red meat supplies to build seasonally in December.
Beef stocks totaled 457.3 million lbs., up 16.6 million lbs. from November, which was slightly less than the five-year average increase of 18.3 million pounds. Frozen beef inventories declined 23.0 million lbs. (4.8%) from year-ago and stood 53.2 million lbs. (10.4%) below the five-year average
Pork stocks stood at 400.4 million lbs., up 9.3 million lbs. from November, more than the five-year average increase of 2.5 million lbs. for the month. Frozen beef inventories declined 27.0 million lbs. (6.3%) from last year and were 54.9 million lbs. (13.7%) below the five-year average.
Poultry stocks increased 9.9 million lbs. from November but declined 92.6 million lbs. from year-ago. Chicken breast meat stocks rose 7.6 million lbs. from November to 243.1 million lbs., though that was 5.5 million lbs. less than last year.