And then there was quiet. After a week of see-saw action in the spot cheese market, Friday’s CME cheddar prices finished unchanged. Reports continue to point to more available cheese in the countryside. No cheese volume traded at the CME today. Will we see product find its way to Chicago next week? The grain market held its volatile theme through Friday. March corn jumped almost a dime into the $4.85 per bushel range – the highest levels since mid-June.
Today’s Highlights from Ever.Ag’s Know Your Markets
- After making some noise through much of the week, CME markets ended Friday on a quiet note. Spot butter and NDM were the only movers, with butter down a half cent to $2.5300 per pound and NDM up a half cent to $1.3725 per pound. Three lots of butter and two of NDM changed hands.
- Nearby Class III contracts climbed on the day, with February up 12 cents to close out the week at $20.18 per hundredweight. But Class IV tumbled. February futures dropped 22 cents to settle at $20.65 per hundredweight.
- After testing the $4.80-per-bushel mark all week, the March corn contract broke through, climbing $0.0975 to reach $4.8425 per bushel. March soybeans also jumped, landing at $10.3400 per bushel, 15 cents higher. Reports on Argentina’s crop conditions indicate a decline following weeks of dry weather. Corn reported as Excellent+Good+Fair accounted for 86% of the crop, down 5% from last week but above the five-year average of 78%. Soybeans in the Excellent+Good+Fair categories was 79%, down a dramatic 14% from last week and near the five-year average of 77%.
- All markets will be closed Monday in observance of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day holiday.
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