The Latest: April - 2026
Milk Powder Market Sprinting Straight Uphill
The milk powder market is sprinting straight uphill. Nonfat dry milk (NDM) rallied another 8.5ȼ this week and reached $2.20 per pound, the highest-ever price in the product’s 18-year tenure at the CME spot market. The short squeeze continues. USDA’s Dairy Market News reports that spot loads are tight from coast to coast, and they’re “particularly difficult to find in the Central region” where the expansion in cheese processing capacity has reduced the need for balancing. Even as milk production ramps up for spring, dryers in the region are running somewhat light.
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There is plenty of fodder for both the bulls and the bears, creating a rather schizophrenic trading market. We’re in a full-blown weather market, and the futures will be as fickle as the forecast.
View reportConcerns about worsening demand are colliding with rising supplies as milk floods the market.
View reportAll eyes were on the CME spot Cheddar markets this week as blocks, and especially barrels, moved decisively lower. Spot barrel prices plunged in recent days and Cheddar spot blocks also moved below $2 for the first time since early September.
View reportCME spot Cheddar barrels climbed to an all-time high last Friday and managed to cling to the precipice on Monday. Then their perch gave way and they plunged over the cliff.
View reportTrading volumes were light, but that led to a sense of foreboding. The rally is real, but how long can it last? The futures curve reflects traders’ fears that the market cannot sustain these prices into next year.
View reportThe combination of more milk and more cows stopped the bulls in their tracks, and made for a lot of red ink on LaSalle Street through mid-week.
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