Midday Market Update: Block cheese price gained 0.50 cents closing at $1.63 with 2 loads traded. Barrel cheese price remained unchanged at $1.42 with no loads traded and no one showing up to trade barrels Tuesday. Butter was again the star of the show with a gain of 8 cents pushing price to $1.7250 with 4 loads traded. There were 2 unfilled bids and 2 uncovered offers remaining at the close. The large price increase Monday was not a flash in the pan as clearly there is aggressive buying taking place pushing the market 24.50 cents higher over the past 2 days. Grade A nonfat dry milk supported the butter/powder complex with a gain of 3.25 cents and price ending at $1.1750 with 12 loads traded. Trading activity in nonfat dry milk has been heavy lately. Dry whey even showed strength with a gain of 0.75 closing at 56.50 with 2 loads traded. Class III futures are 1 cent to 23 cents higher. Class IV futures are 27 cents to 62 cents higher. Butter futures are 3.50 cents to 7.50 cents higher. Dry whey futures are 1.00 cent to 1.50 cents higher. Tuesday is the last day to trade February dairy futures and options. The Global Dairy Trade auction trade weighted average jumped 15.0% Tuesday.
