Cheese - West
MD_DA840

     Cheese - Western U.S.

     Report 36 - Released on September 02, 2020

     In the West, the cheese market is volatile and partly impacted by the effects of COVID-19.
     As USDA announces a plan to purchase up to $1 billion more of food products, including dairy
     products such as cheese, through the Farmers to Families Food Box Program, some industry
     contacts report that this will continue to help with cheese clearing, while others
     anticipate that it might bring more volatility into the market. Cheese retail sales are
     strong, but orders from the food service are still down. Although domestic demands remain
     lower compared to last year, they have been steady compared to a week ago. International
     sales are active, especially with prices being low. According to contacts, some
     manufacturers are starting to prepare for the expected growth in demands during the year-end
     holidays. Difficulties finding qualified staff at a few plants have disrupted production
     processes. However, cheese outputs remain mostly lively at many localities. Barrel cheese
     inventories are still higher compared to block cheese, but both supplies are enough to meet
     customers' needs. In the West, wholesale prices are up $.0475 for process, and up $.0975 for
     cheddar block, cuts and Monterey Jack. Swiss cut wholesale prices are unchanged from the
     previous week.
     WHOLESALE SELLING PRICES: DELIVERED
     DOLLARS PER POUND(MIXED LOTS (1000-5000 POUNDS))

     Cheddar 10 pound Cuts               2.1475-2.3475
     Cheddar 40 pound Block              1.9000-2.3900
     Monterey Jack 10 pounds             2.1350-2.4100
     Process American 5 pound Loaf       1.5175-1.7725
     Swiss 6-9 pound Cuts                2.6025-3.0325


     Information for the period August 31 -  September 4, 2020, issued weekly

     Secondary Sourced Information:

     In CME Group trading Wednesday, barrels closed at $1.5700, compared to the weekly average
     price of $1.4145 from last week. Blocks closed at $1.9100, compared to the weekly average
     price of $1.8250 from last week.

     This week, a cooperative export assistance program accepted requests for export assistance
     on contracts to sell 438,720 pounds (199 metric tons) of cheese. So far this year, the
     program has assisted member cooperatives who have contracts to sell 24.297 million pounds
     of American-type cheeses in export markets. When combined with butter, cream cheese and
     whole milk powder, the program has assisted members with sales of 736.3 million pounds of
     milk on a milkfat basis.

     Published by:
     Dairy Market News - Madison, WI
     FLORENCE KONE-GONZALEZ, (608)422-8594
     Email: florence.konegonzalez@usda.gov

     Additional Dairy Market News Information:
     Dairy Market News (DMN) by Phone: (608)422-8602
     DMN Website: https://www.ams.usda.gov/market-news/dairy
     DMN MARS (My Market News): https://mymarketnews.ams.usda.gov