Dairy market settles into quiet period

Except for price strength in the dry whey futures market on Wednesday of this week, little price movement or activity has taken place in the last week for dairy commodities.

Six carloads of Cheddar barrel cheese were sold in the spot market on the Chicago Mercantile on Tuesday of this week but there was no activity in that market on Wednesday.

Prices were down by .25-cent for both barrels and Cheddar blocks from a week earlier as they held at $1.4875 per pound for blocks and $1.46 for barrels on Wednesday.

In the AA butter spot market, one carload was sold on Wednesday and one bid to buy was not filled as the price remained at $1.4250 per pound - down by 1.25-cents from a week earlier.

The non-fat dry milk spot market has not had any transactions for several weeks with prices at $1.2675 per pound for Grade A and $1.2575 for Grade Extra.

Dry whey futures prices rose by 2 to 4 cents per pound for most months from April to October of 2012 on Wednesday.

This put the day's closing prices at 58.5 cents for April and 52.5 cents for May before they tail off to 42 cents by December and into the high 30s for 2013 and the early months of 2014.

Class III milk futures were in red ink for all months from May of 2012 through May of 2013 on Wednesday but April posted a 22-cent per hundred grain for a closing price of $15.86 per hundred.

They then dip to $15.15 for May and $15.18 for June before rebounding to $15.81 for July and the mid $16s per hundred for the remaining months of 2012.

Cooperatives Working Together continues to accept bids for price assistance to manufacturers on the export of dairy commodities.

The latest announcement was for a package of 14 bids from Dairy Farmers of America, Darigold Cooperative, the Michigan Milk Producers Association, and the Maryland and Virginia Milk Producers Cooperatives to ship 3.741 million pounds of Cheddar and Monterey Jack cheeses and 4.063 million pounds of butter to counties in Asia, the Caribbean, the Middle East, and North Africa from April to October.