Dairy Markets Week in Review
CME cash cheese prices moved higher for the fifth consecutive week but weakened at week’s end as lots of product made its way to the market. The 40-pound block price climbed to $1.33 but ended the President’s Day holiday-shortened week at $1.31 per pound, up 7 cents on the week, but 76 1/4-cents below that week a year ago. The 500-pound barrels closed Friday at $1.27, up 4 cents on the week, but 75 cents below a year ago. Thirty six carloads of block traded hands on the week and 14 of barrel but a lot of offers went uncovered. The NASS-surveyed, U.S. average block price hit $1.1310, up 2.7 cents. Barrel averaged $1.1477, up 2.8 cents.
Butter closed Friday at $1.1025, unchanged on the week, but 7 1/2-cents below a year ago. Nothing was sold all week. NASS butter averaged $1.0793, up 0.9 cent. NASS nonfat dry milk averaged 81.87 cents, down 0.2 cent. Dry whey averaged 15.55 cents, up 0.2 cent on the week.
Price support purchases for the week amounted to 433,554 pounds of butter and 4.7 million pounds of nonfat dry milk, bringing the respective cumulative totals for the year so far to 4.6 million pounds and 174.7 million respectively.
Provided courtesy of Dairyline.