MILK:
To end the week, Class III Milk futures finished up $0.21 to close at $18.89 per cwt on the May, but down considerably from the $20.05 high set on April 13. For the week, Class III finished down 0.15 cents. Nonfat Dry Milk finished unchanged at $1.2525, with no trades but 1 bid and 4 offers. The weekly average of 1.2420 compared to the previous week at 1.2105. There were just eight trades for the week.
CHEESE:
Cheddar blocks closed up 1.75 cents per pound on the day at $1.7925 with four trades recorded. Cheddar barrels closed up 1 cent at $1.8050 with three trades, one bid and no offers. USDA NASS Cold Storage report on Thursday showed total natural cheese stocks in refrigerated warehouses on March 31, 2021, were up 2% from the previous month and up 7% from March 31, 2020.
BUTTER:
Butter closed up 3 cents at $1.77 with five trades, six bids and only two offers. USDA NASS Cold Storage report showed butter stocks were up slightly in March versus the prior month and up 15% from a year ago. The butter stocks surely had a negative impact on this week's trade, with the weekly average price of $1.7940 down sharply from the previous week's average of $1.8810. The volume of trade for the week was 44.
The March report was a surprise to the market in that butter inventories remain heavy by historical standards, with stocks at the end of March the highest since 1993 for that time of year.
OUTSIDE MARKETS SUMMARY:
July corn closed up 1 3/4 cents per bushel, July soybeans are up 1 3/4 cents, July KC wheat finished up 5 3/4 cents, July Chicago wheat closed up 1 3/4 cents and July Minneapolis wheat is up 10 3/4 cents. The June U.S. Dollar Index is trading down 0.496 at 90.825. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 269.56 points at 34,085.46. June gold is down $5.80 at $1,776.20, May silver is down $0.15 at $26.03 and May copper is up $0.0685 at $4.3415. June crude oil is up $0.74 at $62.17, June heating oil is up $0.0134, June RBOB is up $0.0239 and May natural gas is down $0.023.
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