In today’s Cold Storage report, US butter inventory finished November at 200 million pounds, roughly in line with our pre-report expectations for 203 million. Butter in storage dropped 40.0 million pounds (-16.7%) compared to October and -10.8 million pounds (-5.1%) versus November 2021. The month-to-month drawdown was lighter than the five-year average decline of 61.1 million pounds between October and November.
Total US cheese inventories decreased to 1.430 billion pounds at the end of November, a larger decline than we expected. Total product in coolers declined by 18.3 million pounds from October to November, ahead of the five-year average decline of 14.1 million. Stocks were up 0.5% on a year-over-year basis.
American-type cheese stocks tallied 816 million pounds, decreasing 15.6 million pounds (1.9%) from October and down 2.3% versus November 2021. That’s the biggest year-over-year decline since January 2020.
Spot cheese was able to find some support Tuesday in the CME spot dairy product auction. Block cheese climbed 4.50 cents to $2.0725. Barrel cheese jumped 6 cents to $1.76. Butter held steady at $2.4750. Whey gained 3 cents to $0.3850. Nonfat milk fell half a penny to $1.33/lb.
Q1 2023 class III milk futures were modestly higher on the day while class IV milk futures were largely unchanged. Grain markets were lower across the board with corn down 1-2 cents, soybeans losing 12, and soybean meal dropping around $4/ton. The livestock and sector and crude oil were fairly steady on the day.
