Stocks of frozen and chilled meats, October 1, 2020
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Released: 2020-11-13
Data on stocks of frozen and chilled meats for the fourth quarter were collected after the COVID-19 pandemic began. There were some disruptions in the food supply chain because of temporary closures and reductions in production at slaughter and meat processing facilities resulting from COVID-19, which affected the stocks of frozen and chilled meats.
Stocks of frozen and chilled meats in cold storage totalled 120 736 tonnes as of October 1—up 4.0% from July 1, 2020. The overall increase is largely attributed to higher pork stocks as a result of an increase in slaughter compared with the previous quarter.
Stocks of frozen pork meats continued to account for the largest amount of frozen and chilled meat available in Canada (69 872 tonnes), followed by stocks of frozen beef meats (35 282 tonnes).
Chart 1
Canadian quarterly stocks of frozen and chilled meats
Compared with July 1, 2020, the October 1 stocks of frozen pork meats were up 7.2%. After temporary closures of some slaughterhouses in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, increases in hog slaughter in the third quarter (July to September) and higher pork imports in the first three quarters (January to September) of 2020 may also have contributed to the higher level of stocks of frozen pork meats.
As of October 1, 2020, stocks of frozen beef meats were up 2.7% from the previous quarter (July 1, 2020). Cattle slaughter has been operating well above the previous year's levels, as processing plants returned to full capacity in the spring after temporary closures from the pandemic that may have contributed to the higher level of stocks of frozen beef meats. During this period, total imports of beef meats also increased—up 20.4%.
Quebec held the largest portion of stocks of frozen pork meats (48.5%) as of October 1, 2020, while Ontario held the largest portion of stocks of frozen beef meats (37.7%).
Chart 2
Quarterly stocks of frozen and chilled pork meats, by province
Chart 3
Quarterly stocks of frozen and chilled beef meats, by province
Note to readers
This release contains data on stock holdings for various cuts of pork, beef, veal, mutton and lamb, and fancy meats at the national level, as well as total red meats at the regional level. This release also includes the holdings of imported meat at the national level for the same periods.
The data for July 1, 2020, on stocks of frozen and chilled meats, domestic and imported, have been revised with this release.
The Agriculture and Food Statistics Portal, accessible from the Subjects module of our website, provides users with a single point of access to a wide variety of information related to agriculture and food.
Contact information
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