Cheese - West USDA - Wed Sep 02, 8:25PM UTC 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
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