MD_DA410
DA
MD DA410 BUTTER - Northeast  

MADISON, WI. August 23, 2017 (Report 34)

Butter demand in the East is stable as sales into educational and 
retail channels are good. Sales activity is mixed as some 
manufacturers communicate sales are strong. On the other hand, a 
handful of market participants are currently seeing minimal butter 
sales as buyers and end users are waiting to see where the price will 
fall. Many balancing operations took on extra milk intakes this week 
than previous weeks. Cream supplies for routine contracts have been 
steady. Cream availability outside of commitments is slim as the 
demand for cream is high. Butter production continues to be mixed as 
some operations are churning butter actively. However, many butter 
makers have stopped churning and are selling cream. Inventories are 
manageable to short. Bulk butter price is 5 to 8 cents over the market 
of the CME Group, with various time periods and averages used. 
Some dairy individuals have anticipations of butter prices staying 
around the $2.55-$2.70 mark, as prices for butter in global markets 
are higher than domestic prices. Tuesday's CME Group daily cash 
trading saw Grade AA butter prices close at $2.5700, down $0.1000 from 
the previous week. According to the DMN National Retail Report-Dairy, 
for August 18-24, 2017, the Northeast weighted average retail price 
for 1-pound butter was $3.83, 34 cents higher than the national price, 
but down 57 cents from last week's Northeast butter price. Retail 
butter markets reported prices ranging $2.99-$4.99 in the Northeast. 
The surveyed average price in the Southeast is $3.19, down 24 cents 
from last week. COLD STORAGE:  According to NASS, U.S. butter in 
storage on July 31, 2017 totaled 307.7 million pounds, 8 percent below 
a year ago and 1 percent less than last month. Public warehouse stocks 
totaled 285.0 million pounds.      

1100CT Jessica.Mueller@ams.usda.gov 608.422.8589
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