Volatility over the past two days has been unprecedented. There were six consecutive Class III contracts closing limit up with some contracts showing the largest pool of bids unable to be filled due to futures being limit up. There was substantial follow-through with February using the whole $1.50 range of expanded limit at one point. Futures have fallen dramatically due to weakness of spot cheese prices. Blocks declined 2.75 cents, closing at $1.6475 with 3 loads traded. Barrel cheese price declined 7 cents, closing at $1.5550 with no loads traded. Buyers of barrels were nowhere to be found with an uncovered offer setting the price. Butter gained 0.50 cent, closing at $1.5250 with 15 loads traded. Grade A nonfat dry milk price remained unchanged at $1.1475 with 2 loads traded. Dry whey price remained steady at 46.75 with no loads traded. This took the steam out of the Class III futures with only January and February posting gains of 47 cents and 49 cents, respectively. The rest of the contracts are 3 to 30 cents lower with double-digit losses from April through December. Class IV futures have not yet traded. Butter futures are steady to 1.22 cents higher. Dry whey futures are 0.85 cent lower.
