Daily Dairy Trading: Block-Barrel Spread Widens to 10 Cents, Friday
US – Bidding allowed Cheddar Blocks to report spot price gains every day last week, leaving a value $2.3625, according to the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.
17 March 2014
1 minute read
Barrels fluctuated to lose 0.75 cents for the week overall – down to $2.2625 - and Blocks closed over ten cents above the prior week average to finish at $2.3625.
The Block-Barrel spread is a straight 10 cents going into a new trading week.
Elsewhere, spot Butter closed lower after two trades – down to $1.8800. This was on the back of the most spot trades for the week (8) and left the price marginally ahead of the prior week average.
Non-fat Dry Milk held at $2.0400 for the entire week.
March dairy futures strengthened through the week and Class III contracts closed higher on Friday. Class III and IV milk settled at $23.29 and $23.60 respectively.
Major gains of 50+ cents were reported for April and May Class III quotes.
March Class IV lifted 20 cents over Thursday and Friday, although contracts generally slipped back to finish the week.
Cheese futures closed higher, ending a week of gains for the March Cheese contract - currently at $2.2650. April lifted to $2.174.
Butter futures closed mixed. April held at $185 while the May contract slipped slightly and June lifted to $181.500.
Dry Whey also closed mixed with gains seen from April to June. March held at $0.65/pound.
Michael Priestley
TheCattleSite News Desk
