MD_DA431
DA
MD DA431 BUTTER - CENTRAL 

MADISON, WI. August 10, 2016 (Report 32)

Central region butter production is active. Several manufacturers are 
running full schedules. A few industry contacts report the 
availability of cream is decreasing slightly, but most manufacturers 
feel they are able to meet their production needs. Because production 
is more active than most contacts had anticipated, manufacturers 
report being able to replace the stocks they have been selling. Demand 
is strong from retail and food service outlets. Some buyers report 
being unable to purchase the full amount of butter they are looking 
for. Butter manufacturers report little spot load availability for 
bulk butter, especially unfrozen bulk butter. Bulk butter prices 
reported ranged from market to 7.5 cents over the market, with various 
time frames and averages used. Market participants speculate there are 
sufficient inventories of butter in the central region and those with 
butter stocks are not motivated to move additional loads outside of 
commitments in the current market. International interest remains 
light. The market undertone is steady. The DMN National Retail Report-
Dairy for August 5-11 noted the national weighted average advertised 
price for a 1 pound package of butter was $2.99, $0.22 below one week 
ago, but $0.03 above one year ago. Prices in the Midwest region for 1 
pound packages of butter range from $2.50-$2.99 with a weighted 
average price of $2.58. The weighted average price in the South 
Central region was $2.62 with a price range of $1.00-$3.79. This week, 
a cooperative export assistance program accepted requests for 3.417 
million pounds of butter. So far this year, the program has accepted 
assistance requests for 10.366 million pounds of butter. The NASS 
Dairy Products report noted June U.S. butter production totaled 152.9 
million pounds, up 6.4 percent from a year ago. The Central region 
accounted for 39.1 percent (59.8 million pounds) of U.S. production in 
June. This production is 12.9 percent higher than one year ago. 
January-June cumulative U.S. butter production totals 1.03 billion 
pounds, 5.7 percent ahead of 2015 during the same time span. Wednesday 
at the CME Group, Grade AA butter closed at $2.2200, down $.0025 from 
last Wednesday.


2016 U.S. Butter and Milkfat Exports (USDA-FAS)

                 2016 Exports      % Change From 
                 (Million Lb.)       1 Year Ago

June Total            2.3             - 43

TOTAL, JAN - JUN     29.0             -  3
 1 Mexico            17.5             +152
 2 Canada             4.4             + 51
 3 Saudi Arabia       2.6             - 75
 4 South Korea        0.6             - 72
 5 Taiwan             0.5             - 16


1530CT Amy.L.Schmitz@ams.usda.gov 608.557.7004
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/map/da-home