MD_DA540 DA MD DA540 Dry Whey - West MADISON, WI. April 06, 2017 (REPORT 14) Prices of Western whey are steady on both ends of the range and on the mostly price series. Some industry contacts have a pessimistic view about the whey market. They believe that whey prices might move in a negative direction at some point in the near future. In addition, the whey futures market is not providing carrying opportunities right now. As a result, some market participants are reluctant to hold extra whey in inventories, and a few manufacturers are hesitant to produce extra whey. Western whey inventories are light, but there is a little more whey currently available. Whey is also encountering greater price competition in some international markets from Canadian and European suppliers. However, demand in domestic and Southeast Asian markets is stable. The DMN monthly average of the mostly price series for West dry whey during March was $0.4935 compared to $0.4938 one month ago and $0.2491 a year ago. NASS reports that February 2017 U.S. human dry whey production, 76.1 million pounds, is up 3.1% from a year ago, but down 4.8% from January 2017. The Western region produced 19.2 million pounds of human dry whey during February, up 5.6% from last year, and up 5.0% from last month. Month ending stocks for U.S. human dry whey, at 69.0 million pounds, are 9.1% lower than one year ago, but up 3.0% from January 2017. NONHYGROSCOPIC: .4500 - .5900 MOSTLY: .4600 - .5400 U.S. Dry Whey Exports. H.S. Code 0404104000(FAS) 2017 Exports % Change From (Million Lb.) 1 Year Ago February Total 32.9 + 12 TOTAL, JAN - Feb 66.9 + 13 1 China 28.4 +114 2 Canada 7.5 - 7 3 Mexico 7.0 + 15 4 Japan 3.9 - 29 5 Philippines 3.5 - 20 1100CT Mike.Bandli@ams.usda.gov 608.422.8592 Florence.KoneGonzalez@ams.usda.gov 608.422.8594 USDA/AMS/Dairy Market News, Madison, Wisconsin Dairy Market News website: http://www.ams.usda.gov/market-news/dairy Dairy Market News database portal: http://www.marketnews.usda.gov/mnp/da-home