Cheese prices weaker; inventory builds

CME block cheddar closed the last day of trading in April at $1.48 per pound, down 6 1/2-cents on the week but 11 cents above a year ago. By Lee Mielke.
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The barrels finished at $1.4175, down a penny on the week, a half-cent above a year ago, and narrowed the spread to 6 1/4-cents.
The cheese was unchanged Monday, as traders anticipated Tuesday morning’s Global Dairy Trade auction. The blocks were steady Tuesday but the barrels inched a quarter-cent lower, to $1.4150.
Fresh cheese is in tight supply, according to the April 21 Dairy and Food Market Analyst, and “blocks less than 30 days old are the ones that trade at the CME. Cheese inventories are huge, but much of this product can’t come to the exchange.”
Dairy Market News says the cheese market tone is “uncertain” and production for the most part continues to match abundant milk supplies.
Butter finished Friday at $2.1050 per pound, up 1 1/2-cents on the week but 1 1/2-cents below a year ago. Twenty cars traded hands last week.
The butter gave up 1 1/4-cents Monday but was up 2 1/4 cents Tuesday, to $2.1150.
Cream remains available for churns in the Central region but Class II producers continue to show increased interest in cream. Butter demand is steady to slightly strong but inventory is steady to building.
Western milk output has been off a little in some of the butter production states but cream destined for the churn has been in good supply.
Cash Grade A nonfat dry milk finished Friday at 86 3/4-cents per pound, up 1 1/4-cents on the week and 9 1/4-cents above a year ago, on 28 cars sold.
The powder was down three-quarters Monday and Tuesday, slipping to 85 1/4-cents per pound.
GDT feeds bulls
The bulls are feeding on the latest Global Dairy Trade auction where the weighted average for all products offered advanced for the fourth consecutive event, up 3.6 percent, following a 3.1 percent jump April 18.
The only negative move was in skim milk powder, down 0.9 percent, after it led the gains last time with a 7.1 percent rise.
Buttermilk powder led the gains this time, jumping 21.8 percent. Whole milk powder was up 5.2 percent, anhydrous milkfat was up 4.7 percent, and GDT Cheddar was up 4.6 percent, following a 6 percent advance. Lactose and butter were both up 1 percent.
FC Stone equated the average 80 percent butterfat GDT butter price to $2.1733 per pound U.S. CME butter closed Tuesday at $2.1150 per pound.
GDT cheddar cheese equated to $1.6628 per pound U.S. and compares to Tuesday’s CME block cheddar at $1.48. GDT skim milk powder was 89.89 cents per pound and whole milk powder averaged $1.4665 per pound U.S. CME Grade A nonfat dry milk price closed Tuesday at 85 1/4-cents per pound.
Milk feed ratio off
Higher corn and alfalfa hay prices and a sharply lower All-Milk price pulled the latest milk feed price ratio lower for the third consecutive month. The March ratio is 2.39, down from 2.61 in February, but is up from 2.12 in March 2016.
The March U.S. average All-Milk price was $17.30 per hundredweight, down $1.20 from February but $2 above March 2016.
March corn averaged $3.49 per bushel, up 5 cents from February but 7 cents per bushel below March 2016. Soybeans averaged $9.69 per bushel, down 17 cents from February but $1.13 per bushel above March 2016. Alfalfa hay averaged $135 per ton, up $6 from February but $4 per ton below a year ago.
The report shows the March cull price for beef and dairy combined averaged $69.50 per cwt., up $4.60 from February, $10.50 per cwt. below February 2016 and $2.10 below the 2011 base average of $71.60 per cwt.
Prices received for milk cows in April averaged $1,640 per head, up $20 from January but $190 below April 2016
California price up
California’s April Class 4b cheese-milk price is $14.30 per cwt., up 54 cents from March, the first move to the up side since November 2016, and is $1.59 above April 2016. The four-month 4b average is at $14.97, up from $13.02 a year ago.
The 4a butter-powder price is $13.73, down 23 cents from March, $1.19 above a year ago, but the lowest 4a price since November 2016. The 4a average is now at $14.69, up from $12.87 a year ago.
 
Source: CapitalPress
Link: http://www.capitalpress.com/Dairy/20170502/cheese-prices-weaker-inventory-builds
 

Mirá También

Así lo expresó Domingo Possetto, secretario de la seccional Rafaela, quien además, afirmó que a los productores «habitualmente los ignoran los gobiernos». Además, reconoció la labor de los empresarios de las firmas locales y aseguró que están «esperanzados» con la negociación entre SanCor y Adecoagro.

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