Midday Market Update: Block cheese price pulled back Wednesday, declining 3.25 cents closing at $1.5575 with 4 loads traded. Price eliminated the gains of the past two days and then some with price at the lowest level since May 13. The pattern of a short-lived price increase remains intact. Barrel cheese price increased 2.25 cents, closing at $1.4125 with 3 loads traded. The weakness of blocks more than offset the gain of barrel even though Class III price is weighted more heavily to barrels. Butter price remained unchanged at $1.2925 with no loads traded. In fact, no buyers or sellers showed up to do any business Wednesday. Grade A nonfat dry milk price 2.75 cents ending at $1.11 with 33 loads traded. This does not bode well for the market. Dry whey price remained unchanged at 53.50 with one load traded. Class III futures are 20 cents lower to 9 cents higher. Class IV futures are 14 cents to 15 cents lower. Butter futures are 1.07 cents lower to 1.00 cent higher. Dry whey futures are 0.13 cent to 0.50 cent lower. The Federal Order class prices for the month of January will be announced Wednesday.
