News

Cheese prices a little higher

Another day of higher cheese prices on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange on Wednesday.  Barrels increased three-quarter-cent to $2.04 and blocks added a quarter-cent to $2.0025 per pound.  Butter and nonfat dry milk were unchanged but Class III futures increased in concert with the cheese prices.

Dairy Market News says milk production in the Central U.S. is past peak.  Some cheese plants are reduced schedules slightly to reflect milk availability.  Some are using condensed skim in the vats to make-up for lower component content.  Spot loads of milk are anywhere from $1.00 over to $1.00 under class price.  15 loads of barrels and 29 loads of blocks were sold on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange last week, the first three days of this week have seen 11 cars of barrels and 14 loads of blocks sold.

National Dairy Products Sales Report for the week ending July 12^th: cash cheese blocks averaged $2.03 per pound down 0.9 cents, blocks increased 0.2 cents to average $2.05.  Butter up 3 cents to $2.31, nonfat dry milk averaged $1.88 up 2.6 cents and dry whey decreased 0.7 cents to average 68.8 cents per pound.