MILK
A steady block cheese and a higher barrel cheese price on the spot market should have provided some support to Class III futures but that was not the case. Traders focused on the inability of blocks to hold initial gains. The weakness of butter added to the bearishness as butter cannot break out of the range and lead the complex higher. There has not been much change in fundamentals with milk production either at or moving off the spring flush peak. However, schools being closed will leave sufficient supply of milk for manufacturing even if milk receipts decrease. Milk production remains strong, but component values will decline as summer weather continues. This will reduce cheese yield.
AVERAGE CLASS III PRICES
| 3 Month: | $16.01 |
| 6 Month: | $17.09 |
| 9 Month: | $17.41 |
| 12 Month: | $17.55 |
CHEESE
American cheese production in April totaled 488 million pounds, up 2.3% above April 2022. Italian cheese production totaled 478 million pounds, down 2.6% from a year ago. Total cheese output was 1.17 billion pounds and 0.2% bellow a year earlier. Dry whey production increased 1.7% totaling 80.8 million pounds.
BUTTER
Butter output in April totaled 195 million pounds, up 7.6% from April 2022. Nonfat dry milk production totaled 200 million pounds, up 1.9%. Skim milk powder totaled 34.5 million pounds, down 22.6% from a year ago. Ice cream production reached 61.4 million gallons, a decline of 6.1% from a year ago.
OUTSIDE MARKETS SUMMARY
July corn closed down 11.50 cents per bushel at $5.9750, July soybeans closed down 2.50 cents at $13.5000 and July soybean meal closed up $3.40 per ton at $401.20. July Chicago wheat closed up 5.00 cents at $6.2400. August live cattle closed up $0.38 at $173.28. July crude oil is up $0.21 per barrel at $71.95. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 200 points at 33,563 while the NASDAQ is down 11 points at 13,229.
