The Latest: May - 2025
Cheese Markets Soar
The cheese markets soared. CME spot Cheddar blocks leapt 11.25ȼ to $1.93 per pound, their highest price since January. Barrels followed hot on their tail, climbing 11ȼ to $1.88. The widely anticipated increase in U.S. cheese output is underway, but the ramp up has been slower than expected. Cheese buyers who were waiting for heavy supplies and lower prices to lock in their summer needs are now scrambling to get their hands on some product.
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On Tuesday CME spot butter jumped 7ȼ to $3.24 per pound, a lofty price for a market that was $1.79 a year ago. After a brief stay at the peak, butter journeyed back downhill, but not before it logged the four highest trading sessions in history.
View reportThe butter market leapt to an all-time high Wednesday and just kept climbing, but lofty values didn’t scare away buyers. The last time that butter prices were even close to this high, the selloff was swift.
View reportThe bulls remain in charge in the butter pit. Grocers are anxious about stocking their shelves with enough product to last through the holiday baking season, and USDA’s recent reports have not calmed their fears.
View reportButter production is always scant in the summer, but it was especially so this year. There were just 314.4 million pounds of butter in cold storage at the end of July, 5.4% less than a year ago and the lowest mid-summer total since 2017.
View reportMarket observers are paying close attention to an evolving global milk production scenario as many key supply regions witnessed a shift in trajectory during June. U.S. production moved into positive territory during the month, rising by a modest 0.2% after months of decline.
View reportThe United States sent a record-setting volume of dairy products abroad in May. Then, after adjusting for a shorter month, it bested that record in June.
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