At the Chicago Mercantile Exchange class III milk futures closed sharply lower Thursday pressured by technical selling, increased cheese production and a lack of progress on changes to Canada’s supply management system. Class III markets bled hard as September declined 26 cents to $16.29 per cwt. while the fourth quarter was down 23-39 cents per cwt. The 2019 prices dropped 2-13 cents as well. Class IV milk fared a little better as prices fell 5-12 cents September through November 2018. Both May and November 2019 softened 7 cents while December was down 9 cents.
Barrels moved 10 loads and fell 8 and ¼ cents despite only 1 trade. Cheddar blocks settled at $1.64 per lb. The remaining products held themselves together much better. Butter add ¼ cent after 9 trades and 8 unfilled bids. Butter ended up at $2.19 per lb. Grade A nonfat dry milk closed unchanged at 92 cents per lb. while dry whey gained a half cent following a single bid. Cheese markets on Thursday found a wall of selling that pushed both cheese and milk prices much lower.
