After being on the decline, CME cheese prices ended the week on a rise. Blocks settled at $1.6925 per pound, up 3.5 cents, with four loads changing hands. At the same time, barrels ticked up to $1.6850 per pound, 1.25 cents higher, with one lot being exchanged. Butter climbed to $2.6300 per pound, adding three cents while NDM eased to $1.4000 per pound, giving up a half cent.
Class III futures followed spot cheese prices into the green with December futures rising to $18.76 per hundredweight, up 32 cents and Q1 prices climbing to $19.04 per hundredweight, adding 24 cents. Class IV was mixed as the nearby contract settled down five cents at $21.00 per hundredweight while Q1 finished at $21.15 per hundredweight, unchanged.
Despite the uptick in inflation, retail spending reached $718.9 billion in October, up 0.4% month-over-month and +2.7% year-over-year. Grocery store sales were up 0.1% from September and +2.4% from October 2023, ahead of the inflation rate of +1.1% year-over-year. At the same time, food-service sales advanced 0.7% on the month and +4.2% year-over year, again outpacing the inflation rate of +3.8% on the year.
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