Market News

Butter up; Class III futures down on the CME

Cash cheese and nonfat dry milk held steady on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange on Monday but butter jumped 8.5 cents on 16 sales.

Butter inventories have been building, stocks jumped 43 million pounds in January however demand is strong especially with Passover and Easter on the horizon. There is a bit of regional disparity: Dairy Market News says bulk butter is available in the Western United States for a penny over market to 4.5 cents under market.  In the East bulk butter is bringing 2 to 6 cents over market and the Central U.S. is getting 6 cents over market.

Class III futures dropped, March fell 23 cents, April lost 22 cents, May was down a quarter and July declined 16 cents.

Global Dairy Trade auction on Tuesday, everyone is waiting to see how Fonterra’s announcement last week that it will increase offerings on the sale will affect the market.

 

Cooperatives Working Together (CWT) has accepted 11 requests for export assistance from Dairy Farmers of America, Northwest Dairy Association (Darigold), Tillamook County Creamery Association and United Dairymen of Arizona who have contracts to sell 2.477 million pounds of Cheddar, Gouda, and Monterey Jack cheese and 385,809 pounds of butter to customers in Asia, the Middle East, and the South Pacific. The product has been contracted for delivery in the period from March through August 2015. 

Year-to-date, CWT has assisted member cooperatives who have contracts to sell 9.709 million pounds of cheese and 18.839 million pounds of butter to eighteen countries on five continents.