The seasonal buying has kicked in after a generally benign summer. The block cheese price has been in a sideways pattern for about 3 months and broke out to the upside last week moving to $2.10 and the highest level since March 27, 2023. Barrel cheese moved to the highest level since June 9, 2022. Buyers have become more aggressive as they have shifted their attention to potential Fall and holiday demand.
More milk is moving to satisfy the bottling needs of the school systems. This tightens the available milk supply for manufacturing. Spot milk prices remain at class to as much as $2.00 above class with plants having to look for available supply. Spot milk prices are expected to increase over the next few months. Milk production is not expected to improve anytime soon and may remain below year-ago levels for the rest of the year. The USDA reduced their estimates for milk production this year by 600 million pounds in the recent World Agricultural Supply and Demand report. They estimate milk production to total 226.3 billion pounds and 100 million pounds below 2023.
By ROBIN SCHMAHL
August 20, 2024
Comments