CME butter was the only green in Chicago today as prices advanced to $2.6300 per pound, 3.25 cents higher with two lots exchanged. At the same time, cheese prices continued their tumble with CME blocks settling at $1.6900 per pound, down 2.75 cents and barrels easing to $1.6800 per pound, giving up half a cent. Three loads of blocks and one load of barrels were sold.
Class III futures were largely in the red. The December contract fell to $18.66 per hundredweight while Q1 prices settled at $18.86 per hundredweight, 19 cents lower. Class IV Q1 contracts are also coming under some pressure, stumbling to $21.18 per hundredweight, giving up 12 cents.
The Consumer Price Index increased 2.6% year-over-year in October, up from +2.4% in September. The food index increased 0.2% month-over-month with grocery store prices ticking up 0.1% and food away from home prices gaining 0.2%.
