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Class III milk still struggling to stay over $17

A commodity analyst and broker says the Class III milk market landscape appears different from recent years.

Mike North with Commodity Risk Management Group says, “That’s not to say that the buyer’s response to prices are any different yet this year, and so while we work through some of that typical market psychology and behavior, it doesn’t come as a big surprise that we’re running into a little bit of a roadblock.”

North tells Brownfield the back-and-forth motion in Class III prices during the past five years has usually peaked around 17 dollars a hundredweight before falling back down.  North says two other factors are preventing prices from going higher. “You know, we’ve still not fully come through with a trade deal to help get product moving back to some of our bigger trade partners namely Mexico and China and it didn’t help in Tuesday’s Global Dairy Trade to see Cheddar values come down 14% either.”

North says the domestic and global milk market is finding some resistance, and while there’s room for optimism for higher prices, he says the 17-dollar mark is a price that has been very difficult to breach.