Market News

Dairy markets quiet to start the week

A relatively quiet day in the dairy markets on Tuesday. Cash cheese barrels declined a half-cent while blocks gained a half-cent.  Butter was steady and nonfat dry milk increased a half-cent.  Class III futures from February through May were a little higher while June through November contracts were a little lower.

The semi-monthly Global Dairy Trade auction saw the overall index increase for the third-consecutive sale. Higher prices for butter, rennet casein, skim milk powder and whole milk powder more than offset lower prices for sweet whey powder, butter milk powder, anhydrous milkfat and cheddar cheese.  While the increase only 1 percent, compared to the 3-percent increases the two previous sales, it was still an increase and seen as an indication the global markets may have bottomed-out last month.

The GDT butter price is now 6 cents above the Chicago Mercantile Exchange price. U.S. prices had been significantly above global prices for most of 2014.  U.S. cheese is still a little higher than the global price.