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November 21, 2008
Butter
3 sales, 0 bids unfilled, 3 offers uncovered. Butter lost 4.5 cents for the
week following no change last week. Butter producers across the country are
cautious about churning activity at this time, especially with additional
cream offerings during the next week to ten days. Most are concerned about a
potential sharp decline in the cash price with them holding
heavier-than-desired volumes of uncommitted stock. Butter demand this week
slowed as Thanksgiving holiday orders have been placed and shipped. Most
buyers will wait to see how Thanksgiving holiday sales have been before
placing additional year-end orders. Many butter supplies indicate that
pre-Thanksgiving orders have been comparable with previous years, but
questions remain about year-end orders. Some food service buyers are stating
that a downturn in economic conditions is having an impact on traffic flow
through their operations, but also state that holiday shopping is sparking
some additional traffic which otherwise would not be occurring.
Cheese
0 sales, 5 bids unfilled, 0 offers uncovered. Cheese gained 5.25 cents this
week after gaining 6.75 cents last week. Packagers and, to a lesser degree
processors, have been filling and shipping generally good seasonal orders
for the holidays. Bulk cheese supplies are mainly tight to adequate. Most
cheese makers can readily acquire extra milk if needed to fill an order.
Cheese production is fairly steady.
Milk Production
Class I and II demand is stronger this week as retailers and food service
accounts build supplies of dips, sour, whipped cream, and other holiday
specialties for Thanksgiving use.
Dry Products
During the week of November 17-21, CCC purchased 9,057,983 pounds of Western
NFDM under the dairy support program. Cumulative purchases since October 1,
2008, now have reached 67.2 million pounds.
Source: USDA Dairy Market News
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