Mexico, with a 44 percent increase over 1998, was the sole contributor to the increase as first quarter Canadian live cattle imports into the U.S. declined 23 percent from 1998's. U.S. live cattle exports in March were 34 percent below 1998's. For March, U.S. live cattle exports to Mexico were 63 percent lower than a year ago, but live cattle exports to Canada were 26 percent above 1998's. For the first quarter, U.S. live cattle exports were 26 percent lower than 1998's with Mexico receiving 60 percent fewer and Canada receiving 69 percent more. Compared to a year ago, red meat frozen stocks were up 10 percent while poultry stocks were down 3 percent.
Pork continues to be the driving force behind the increases in red meat holdings.
At 594 million pounds, April was the fifth consecutive month of record large pork tonnage in cold storage. Pork bellies were the largest cold storage growth item and stocks of spareribs and boneless loins also remained large. Overall, pork tonnage in cold storage was 22 percent larger than 1998's at the end of April. Cold storage holdings of beef increased to 310 million pounds as of April 30th. Lamb and mutton holdings grew seasonally but were 24 percent below 1998's.