MD_DA440                                                         
DA                                                               
MD DA440 BUTTER - WEST 

MADISON, WI.  February 24, 2016 (REPORT 8)

WEST BUTTER

Western butter makers say there is a good amount of cream available and butter production 
continues to be active. A few manufacturers completed maintenance work on their 
facilities without major disruptions to production schedules. Domestic butter sales 
continue to be strong in advance of the Q1 spring holidays, but some industry contacts 
note demand is slightly slower as those orders are filled. Butter inventories are 
building, which is typical for this time of year. However, the large increase in January 
inventories, as noted on the cold storage report, led a few contacts to question whether 
end users were storing butter for future needs or if the butter market was getting 
filled. The DMN National Retail Report-Dairy for the week of February 19-25 found that 
the U.S. weighted average advertised price of 1 pound butter is $3.44, up $.15 from last 
week. The U.S. weighted average price was $3.18 one year ago. In the Southwest, the 
weighted average advertised price of 1 pound butter was $3.99. In the Northwest the 
weighted average advertised price of 1 pound butter was $3.00. This week, a cooperative 
export assistance program accepted requests for 220,462 pounds of butter. The NASS Cold 
Storage report noted U.S. butter stocks as of January 31, 2016, were 196.1 million 
pounds, up 26% from last month. Butter stocks in all warehouses were 148.9 million pounds 
last year at this time. According to the California Department of Food and Agriculture, 
January 2016 California butter production was 52.8 million pounds, down 8.1% from a year 
ago. Bulk butter pricing in the West this week is 3 cents under market to 2 cents above, 
based on the CME Group with various time frames and averages used. The Grade AA butter 
price at the CME Group on Wednesday closed at $2.0000, down $.0550 from a week ago.


15300CT Mike.Bandli@ams.usda.gov 608.557.7010
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