Butter was the biggest player in today’s spot session, with another high-volume day, though it closed down. Manufacturers appear to have ample supply, leading them to the spot market to offload inventory. Meanwhile, nonfat futures continue to decline, suggesting that sellers still need to move lower to find export bids. On a positive note, Class III futures had another strong showing, after both barrels and blocks climbed higher and finished in the green.
Today’s Highlights from Ever.Ag’s Know Your Markets
- CME price movements were small ahead of USDA’s Cold Storage report. Spot butter saw heavy trading, with 27 loads exchanged, while the price dipped $0.0125 to $2.3175 per pound. CME cheese markets continued yesterday’s climb. Spot blocks rose two cents to $1.6400 per pound, while barrels ticked up to $1.6350, a half cent higher. One lot of blocks and two of barrels traded.
- Milk powder prices were mixed-to-lower at this week’s GlobalDairyTrade Pulse event. SMP decreased to $1.25 per pound, down 1.6% compared to the Pulse before and -3.3% versus Contract 2 at the latest main auction. WMP settled at $1.79 per pound, down 0.9% from the previous Pulse, but up 0.1% versus Contract 2 at the most recent main event.
- USDA’s February Cold Storage report was neutral for both cheese and butter. US total cheese stocks reached 1.381 billion pounds, just slightly below Ever.Ag’s predictions for 1.385 billion. While still 5.3% below prior-year levels, stocks rose 1.8% month-over-month, ahead of the five-year-average monthly climb. Butter inventories totaled 306 million pounds, up 2.6% on the year and +17.2% versus January, though below expectations.
Ever.Ag - The risk of loss trading commodity futures and options can be substantial. Investors should carefully consider the inherent risks in light of their financial condition. The information contained herein has been obtained from sources to be reliable, however, no independent verification has been made. The information contained herein is strictly the opinion of its author and not necessarily of Ever.Ag and is intended to be a solicitation. Past performance is not indicative of future results.
