Daily Reports

Cheese prices continue to climb, butter finds support
10/07/2011 7:46:41 AM
Class III posted a solid volume of 1,413 contracts during bursts of trading activity in what otherwise seemed like a quiet day for the dairy markets on Thursday. After starting out 4 to 11 cents lower, nearby futures regained ground and then rallied to as much as 19 higher (November) as another round firming spot cheese prices pushed blocks up 1.50 and barrels up 4.50 cents, respectively. FULL STORY »

Cheese prices rise on domestic buyer appetite
09/23/2011 8:26:18 AM
When was the last time you saw spot cheese gain a significant amount, front month rally and all other months trade lower? Exactly! It’s been a while. Yesterday was an unusual trading session. We started down quite a bit because of outside market influences, something we are often sheltered form in the dairy sector. We turned around those major losses on gains in spot cheese. FULL STORY »

Snap-back rally for Class III, but macro picture bleak
09/22/2011 8:08:51 AM
What a difference a day makes. As specs seemed to exit (look at the Open Interest decline in nearby months) previously sold positions, we are still lower on the week. But in one swift swoop, we recouped Tuesday’s losses and then some. Futures were firm from the start yesterday, despite a spot session that began with offers in the block. Futures didn’t really blink much because barrels were bid at unchanged; thus while blocks fell well over a cent at one point, Class III futures maintained double-digit gains. FULL STORY »

Dairy markets waiting and watching for milk production report
09/19/2011 8:21:04 AM
Class III futures were higher on the week with Q4 posting a gain of 18 cents per hundredweight, all the while Chicago Mercantile Exchange spot cheese was ¾ of a cent lower. We have consolidated and there doesn’t seem to be much out there to move spot prices either way today; traders are waiting on a host of fresh news to be released this week FULL STORY »

Dairy markets end July on firm note
08/01/2011 8:05:26 AM
Class III prices on Friday continued to climb early on, but were more subdued following a spot session that had the same pattern as most of the week’s activity. Unchanged offers on both the block and the barrel opened the session, but prices were then offered lower to 2.1450. FULL STORY »

Block cheese remains at $2.155
07/29/2011 7:55:15 AM
On Thursday, futures prices came out of the gate strongly with prices moving sharply higher on large volume prior to the spot session. September climbed all the way to 20.90 at one point — up 35 cents. FULL STORY »

Class III weaker amid stable cheese market
07/27/2011 8:40:55 AM
The summer doldrums subsided Tuesday as Class III futures traded 1,883 contracts, more than double the volume of Monday’s quiet session. Prices traded steady to lower to start the day and then sold off sharply ahead of – and during – the CME spot session as offers pushed the price of blocks down 1 cent intra-session. But buyers didn’t back down. They absorbed four loads and bid the price of blocks back to unchanged sending a wave of buying into the August and September contracts. FULL STORY »

Dog days of summer grip dairy markets
07/26/2011 7:54:16 AM
A quiet trade ensued for the Class III market Monday as an extremely active overnight session was followed up on by one of the lowest volume day sessions in quite some time. With the active Sunday night volume it looked like yesterday could end up with very strong volume, and though we reached nearly 500 trades by spot time, total volume crawled to just 892 by the close. FULL STORY »

Markets still focused on the hot weather
07/22/2011 8:46:34 AM
Heat remains the topic of choice and it’s not going away as DMN cited large drop-off in milk production and a recovery that might not materialize until fall. But weather markets often fade as quickly as they emerge. Still, sellers have stepped this week back on concerns over product availability later this year. In order for prices to cool, the weather might have to do so first. FULL STORY »

Bulls lose steam amid modest news Tuesday
07/20/2011 8:04:14 AM
Class III futures traded mostly lower early as the heavy volume trade continued. The spot market once again saw an uptick as buyers were aggressive but sellers brought more product to the exchange. When we settled, the block was up 2 cents at 2.1400 with 5 trades and barrels were up ½ a cent at 2.1150 with no trades. The spot sales that hit bids seemed to have deterred futures from rallying hard and instead helped inspire more of a consolidation trade at these lofty levels. Heat in the Midwest also underpinned futures. FULL STORY »

Blocks higher again; Class III price spike continued Monday
07/19/2011 7:34:23 AM
Class III futures kicked off the new week with follow-through price strength inspired primarily by Friday’s dazzling display of support in the block cheese market and downright oppressive Midwest heat. It wasn’t hot enough to keep spot buyers away again today, as multiple bids carried the price of blocks to up 6.25 cents to $2.1200 where a trade occurred and the increasing bids stopped (barrels finished unchanged with 1 trade). Futures continued the parabolic panic spike from Friday pushing between .09 and .49 cents higher by the closing bell. FULL STORY »