News

Trying to read the cheese market

While cash cheese prices have nudged higher on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange the last couple of days, there is still a lot of apprehension. Ag Market News says there is a lot of milk being produced out there keeping cheese makers very busy while retail demand is “underwhelming”. They note the CME actually trades cheese up to 30 days old so the increases on Wednesday “is to focus on the market for cheese up to 30 days old.”

The National Dairy Retail Report says the most advertised cheese in the country is eight-ounce shredded at $2.30 down 8 cents from two weeks ago and the lowest of the year. In the Midwest, eight-ounce shredded is 24 cents below the national average.

National Dairy Products Sales Report for the week ending March 2nd: cheddar cheese blocks averaged $1.66 per pound down 0.1 cent from a week ago. Barrels were up 2.1 cents to average $1.65. Butter increased 1.4 cents to average $1.59, dry whey increased a half-cent to 63.5 cents and nonfat dry milk decreased 2.3 cents to average $1.55 per pound.