MD_DA440                                                         
DA                                                               
MD DA440 BUTTER - WEST 

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

WEST BUTTER
Western butter production continues to be steady. Suppliers and consumers will be 
closely watching the availability of cream over the next few weeks and how it 
will play into the butter markets. Plenty of market participants are seeing this 
time of year as the quiet time before baking season moves in. Cream is generally 
readily available for most processing needs. Domestic demands for butter remain 
steady from retailers. Cream multiples in the West are just shy of the mid 1.30s 
and as a result are sold to ice cream and cold dessert manufacturers. Inventories 
are checked so that stocks are not too long. Thus, it will help manufacturers 
gauge the rate of butter production to keep inventories leveled. The DMN National 
Retail Report-Dairy for the week of August 5-11 found that the U.S. weighted 
average advertised price of 1 pound butter is $2.99, down $.22 from last week. 
The U.S. weighted average price is up $.03 from $2.96 one year ago. In the 
Southwest, the weighted average advertised price of 1 pound butter is $2.61. In 
the Northwest, the weighted average advertised price of 1 pound butter is $3.42. 
According to the NASS Dairy Products report, U.S. butter production during June 
2016, 152.9 million pounds, was 6.4% higher than June 2015, but 10.1% lower than 
May 2016. U.S. cumulative 2016 butter production through June is 1.031 billion 
pounds, 5.7% higher than the same period last year. In the West, total June 
butter production was 79.252 million pounds, 4.1% higher than last year, but 2.7% 
lower than last month. California June production was 46.0 million pounds, 2.5% 
higher than last year, but 7.1% lower than last month. This week, a cooperative 
export assistance program accepted seven requests for 3.417 million pounds (1550 
metric tons) of butter. So far this year, the program has assisted member 
cooperatives with sales of 10.366 million pounds of butter (82% milkfat) in 
export markets. The Grade AA butter price at the CME Group on Wednesday closed at 
$2.2200, down $.0025 from a week ago.

15300CT Daniel.Kim@ams.usda.gov 608.557.7009
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