Dairy Markets Week in Review
Roller coaster cheese prices remain the center of attention. Trading the last week of February saw blocks hit $2.09 per pound before plunging to $1.99 on Thursday, but rebounded some Friday and closed at $2.07, down just a quarter-cent on the week but 72 1/2-cents above that week a year ago.
Barrel closed at $1.97, down a nickel on the week but 62 cents above a year ago. Sixteen cars of block traded hands on the week and nine of barrel. The NASS U.S. average block price hit $1.8823, up 12.7 cents. Barrel averaged $1.9114, up 4.7 cents.
Dairy Market News reports Oceania cheddar at $2.25-$2.45 per pound, down a few cents from two weeks ago, but the CME’s Daily Dairy Report says the price has run 30-70 cents higher than the U.S. block price for the past five months and that exporters in drought-stricken Oceania continue to acquire supplemental cheese from other sources such as the U.S. to cover needs of key customers.
Cash butter closed Friday at $1.25, up 7 1/4-cents on the week, but 6 1/2-cents below a year ago when it had jumped 10 1/2 cents. Twenty nine cars were sold. NASS butter averaged $1.1879, down 2.9 cents. NASS nonfat dry milk averaged $1.2748, down 3.2 cents, and dry whey averaged 24.92 cents, down 1.3 cents on the week.
Downes-O’Neill dairy economist, Bill Brooks, said on DairyLine that the recent Cold Storage report shows that we have a lot of butter on hand so prices continue to move sideways and trade in a fairly narrow range. He said prices could strengthen a little but warned that the level of production that’s happening right now would likely temper that.
Provided courtesy of Dairyline.