MD_DA840 Cheese - Western U.S. Report 36 - Released on September 02, 2020 In the West, the cheese market is volatile and partly impacted by the effects of COVID-19. As USDA announces a plan to purchase up to $1 billion more of food products, including dairy products such as cheese, through the Farmers to Families Food Box Program, some industry contacts report that this will continue to help with cheese clearing, while others anticipate that it might bring more volatility into the market. Cheese retail sales are strong, but orders from the food service are still down. Although domestic demands remain lower compared to last year, they have been steady compared to a week ago. International sales are active, especially with prices being low. According to contacts, some manufacturers are starting to prepare for the expected growth in demands during the year-end holidays. Difficulties finding qualified staff at a few plants have disrupted production processes. However, cheese outputs remain mostly lively at many localities. Barrel cheese inventories are still higher compared to block cheese, but both supplies are enough to meet customers' needs. In the West, wholesale prices are up $.0475 for process, and up $.0975 for cheddar block, cuts and Monterey Jack. Swiss cut wholesale prices are unchanged from the previous week. WHOLESALE SELLING PRICES: DELIVERED DOLLARS PER POUND(MIXED LOTS (1000-5000 POUNDS)) Cheddar 10 pound Cuts 2.1475-2.3475 Cheddar 40 pound Block 1.9000-2.3900 Monterey Jack 10 pounds 2.1350-2.4100 Process American 5 pound Loaf 1.5175-1.7725 Swiss 6-9 pound Cuts 2.6025-3.0325 Information for the period August 31 - September 4, 2020, issued weekly Secondary Sourced Information: In CME Group trading Wednesday, barrels closed at $1.5700, compared to the weekly average price of $1.4145 from last week. Blocks closed at $1.9100, compared to the weekly average price of $1.8250 from last week. This week, a cooperative export assistance program accepted requests for export assistance on contracts to sell 438,720 pounds (199 metric tons) of cheese. So far this year, the program has assisted member cooperatives who have contracts to sell 24.297 million pounds of American-type cheeses in export markets. When combined with butter, cream cheese and whole milk powder, the program has assisted members with sales of 736.3 million pounds of milk on a milkfat basis. Published by: Dairy Market News - Madison, WI FLORENCE KONE-GONZALEZ, (608)422-8594 Email: florence.konegonzalez@usda.gov Additional Dairy Market News Information: Dairy Market News (DMN) by Phone: (608)422-8602 DMN Website: https://www.ams.usda.gov/market-news/dairy DMN MARS (My Market News): https://mymarketnews.ams.usda.gov
Cheese - West