2.5 Billion Pounds of Meat Piles Up in U.S. as Production Grows, Exports Slow

[mahatmakanejeeves]

2.5 Billion Pounds of Meat Piles Up in U.S. as Production Grows, Exports Slow

Profits, prices are threatened as record amounts of red meat and poultry fill U.S. warehouses

By Jacob Bunge

https://twitter.com/jacobbunge
[e-mail]

July 22, 2018 10:00 a.m. ET

Meat is piling up in U.S. cold-storage warehouses, fueled by a surge in supplies and trade disputes that are eroding demand. ... Federal data, coming as early as Monday, are expected to show a record level of beef, pork, poultry and turkey being stockpiled in U.S. facilities, rising above 2.5 billion pounds, agricultural analysts said.

U.S. consumers’ appetite for meat is growing, but not fast enough to keep up with record production of hogs and chickens. That leaves the U.S. meat industry increasingly reliant on exports, but Mexico and China—among the largest foreign buyers of U.S. meat—have both set tariffs on U.S. pork products in response to U.S. tariffs on steel, aluminum and other goods. U.S. hams, chops and livers have become sharply more expensive in those markets, which is starting to slow sales, industry officials said.

The meat industry’s growing production already is filling the specialized warehouses built to store meat and other goods. “We are packed full,” said Joe Rumsey, president of Arkansas-based Zero Mountain Inc. The company’s five storage facilities serve as way stations for turkeys and chicken strips between processors and retailers, holding around 250 million pounds of products on any given day.

Growing meat stockpiles may bring down prices for meat-hungry U.S. consumers, along with restaurants and retailers. But slowing overseas sales and rising domestic stockpiles threaten profit for meat processors and prices for livestock and poultry producers. Since the end of May, prices of lean hog futures at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange have dropped 14%.
....

—Benjamin Parkin contributed to this article.

Write to Jacob Bunge at [e-mail]

Appeared in the July 23, 2018, print edition as 'U.S. Meat Stockpiles Surge As Tariffs Eat Into Exports.'

[msongs]

1. with a huge oversupply prices in american stores should be plunging. right? uh oh

supply and demand does not apply to corporate welfare food industry

[Wellstone ruled]

6. Prices will fall in a couple of weeks.

Meat in cold storage only has a 90 day shelf life and then is looses quality and flavor. And that is so dependent on quality and storage facility.

[ret5hd]

7. Hmmm...

https://theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/mar/11/extreme-aged-steak-meat-with-mould-on-gourmet

[Wellstone ruled]

8. Very aware of your story link.

It is all about the hanging beef when it goes into the Coolers. Most Packing Houses do not have the facilities as your article describes.

Usual process is,every Caucus is stabilized in the Cooler after slaughter. Usually two to three days and then it is sent to the Break Down Tables to be cut into Primal Cuts or boned for Box Beef.

Like the idea of extra aged Beef,it is the only way to fly. But,reality is,the public will not pay the extra trime charge that comes with extra aging. As a old time meat cutter,21 days age on a Loin added about thirty per cent to the finish product after cutting waste.

[elleng]

2. 'but Mexico and China--among the largest foreign buyers of U.S. meat

—have both set tariffs on U.S. pork products in response to U.S. tariffs on steel, aluminum and other goods. U.S. hams, chops and livers have become sharply more expensive in those markets, which is starting to slow sales, industry officials said. . .

growing meat stockpiles may bring down prices for meat-hungry U.S. consumers, along with restaurants and retailers. But slowing overseas sales and rising domestic stockpiles threaten profit for meat processors and prices for livestock and poultry producers. Since the end of May, prices of lean hog futures at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange have dropped 14%.'

[beachbum bob]

3. Proposed cutbacks in food stamps and school lunch programs won't help, and

as prices drop, meat production will drop,

[underpants]

4. Smithfield's plant in Tarheel NC "processes" 30,000 pigs a day

You read that right. 30,000 every single day.


https://www.porkbusiness.com/article/smithfield-foods-expand-its-tar-heel-nc-plant

[shraby]

5. Getting toward time to stock up the freezer!