Market News

Solid close to the week in the dairy markets

Cash cheese and butter moved higher on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange on Friday with Class III futures responding accordingly. For the week: cash cheese barrels gained 1.5 cents, blocks slipped a quarter-cent, butter increased 5.5 cents and nonfat dry milk is a half-cent lower.  Class III futures for April gained 11 cents, May increased 22 cents, June added 29 cents and October picked-up a penny for the week. U.S. milk production is strong but so is demand.

Dairy Market News says cheese plants are running at full capacity.  Extra loads of milk are available usually at below-Class price and cheese sales are good especially to restaurants and food service.  Butter sales are also running above expectations.

The strong dollar is contributing to more foreign cheese coming ashore in the U.S. The USDA Foreign Ag Service says imports of high-tier and quota Italian-type cheese totaled 7.7 million pounds from January through March up 65 percent compared to the same period last year.  Imports of high-tier and quota Swiss/Emmenthaler for the period were 19 percent higher at 12.8 million pounds.

The January mailbox price for milk delivered to the Federal Orders averaged $17.71 per hundredweight; down $3.12 from December and $5.76 below January of 2014.  The January mailbox price ranged from $21.33 in Florida to $15.19 in New Mexico.