Local chicken inventory more than doubles

DRESSED chicken in local cold storage facilities more than doubled, with imports accounting for a chunk of the May 15 volume, according to the latest report from the National Meat Inspection Service (NMIS).

Data from NMIS, an attached agency of the Department of Agriculture, showed that dressed chicken in cold storage facilities reached 48,672.06 metric tons (MT) on May 15. The volume is 111 percent higher than the 23,002.13 MT recorded on May 16, 2022.

NMIS data showed that imports accounted for 31,641.14 MT of the dressed chicken inventory. Local poultry in cold storage facilities reached 17,030.92 MT.

Last year, imports accounted for 15,343.53 MT or more than half of the dressed chicken of the inventory.

Cold storage facilities in Region 4-A had the largest chicken inventory at 16,019.35 MT, followed by Region 3 which had 15,186.06 MT.

The agency said its dressed chicken inventory data only included fresh chilled chicken from accredited cold storage facilities. NMIS’S data did not include mechanically deboned meat of chicken.

NMIS data also indicated that the country’s frozen pork inventory on May 15 was also higher compared to last year’s level. Pork in cold storage facilities reached 67,359.87 MT, or nearly 33 percent higher than the 50,668.89 MT recorded a year ago.

Similar to the dressed chicken inventory, there were more imports than locally produced pork in cold storage facilities—64,214.05 MT of imports versus 3,145.82 MT of local pork.

Last year’s inventory also had more pork imports at 50,036.22 MT.

The May 15 inventory was also higher than 60,060.89 MT recorded on April 17 and last week’s 66,037.47 MT.

Cold storage facilities in Region 4-A had the largest frozen pork inventory at 23,824.51 MT followed by the National Capital Region which held 19,682.74 MT.

The frozen pork inventory covers the stock inventory in accredited commercial and in-house cold storages (slaughterhouses and meat processing plants), according to the NMIS.

The agency said frozen pork inventory includes local and imported carcass, primal parts and specialty cuts of local and imported pork.

The national government lowered tariffs on pork products to beef up domestic supply as African swine fever, a disease that is fatal to hogs, decimated local farms.