MD_DA840 Cheese - Western U.S. Report 48 - Released on November 26, 2019 Western industry contacts report that spot cheese sales are a bit slower to materialize as most customers have enough stocks and are not looking to purchase more. The recent declines in CME prices are reinforcing the wait and see approach buyers are using. Retail sales are at seasonal levels. Right now, contractual agreement negotiations for 2020 are what end users/buyers are working on. A lot of milk continues to move to the cheese vats for processing. There are also sufficient stocks of blocks and barrels in warehouses for any request that might come in. Barrel cheese stocks are becoming more available compared to previous weeks. In the West, wholesale prices were down $.1050 for process, and down $.0850 for cheddar block, cuts and Monterey Jack. Swiss cut wholesale prices are unchanged from a week ago. NATIONAL RETAIL REPORT DAIRY – CHEESE SUMMARY Advertised Prices at Major Retail Supermarket Outlets ending during the period of 11/22/2019 to 11/28/2019 Cheese 8 oz. Blocks Weighted Average Price National This Period Last Week Last Year Conventional $2.28 $2.33 $1.92 Organic $3.99 $3.66 n.a. Regional (Conventional) Wtd. Ave. Low High Northwest $2.00 $2.00 $2.00 Southwest $2.14 $1.99 $2.99 Regional (Organic) Wtd. Ave. Low High Southwest $3.99 $3.99 $3.99 Cheese 8 oz. Shred Weighted Average Price National This Period Last Week Last Year Conventional $2.31 $2.36 $2.17 Organic $3.99 $3.78 n.a. Regional (Conventional) Wtd. Ave. Low High Northwest $3.14 $1.99 $3.79 Southwest $2.59 $1.99 $3.50 Regional (Organic) Wtd. Ave. Low High Southwest $3.99 $3.99 $3.99 WHOLESALE SELLING PRICES: DELIVERED DOLLARS PER POUND(MIXED LOTS (1000-5000 POUNDS)) Cheddar 10 pound Cuts 2.1750-2.3750 Cheddar 40 pound Block 1.9275-2.4175 Monterey Jack 10 pounds 2.1625-2.4375 Process American 5 pound Loaf 2.2675-2.5225 Swiss 6-9 pound Cuts 3.0100-3.4400 Information for the period November 25 - 29, 2019, issued weekly Secondary Sourced Information: In CME Group trading Monday, barrels closed at $2.1425, compared to the weekly average price of $2.1650 from last week. Blocks closed at $1.8825, compared to the weekly average price of $1.8455 from last week. Cold Storage – Cheese Summary Released November 22, 2019, by the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), Agricultural Statistics Board, United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). 10/31/19 Stocks in all Warehouses (1,000 pounds) as a percent of Natural Cheese 10/31/18 9/30/19 10/31/19 10/31/18 9/30/19 Total natural cheese 1,375,149 1,373,856 1,342,226 98 98 American, total 811,593 774,761 742,792 92 96 New England 77,066 70,452 70,457 91 100 Middle Atlantic 64,001 87,000 83,452 130 96 East North Central 331,018 329,809 317,618 96 96 West North Central 137,928 114,446 107,189 78 94 South Atlantic 1,093 215 189 17 88 East South Central 17,224 10,856 10,372 60 96 West South Central 5,845 3,741 3,902 67 104 Mountain 63,388 50,439 49,991 79 99 Pacific 114,030 107,803 99,622 87 92 Swiss, total 30,775 26,392 26,106 85 99 Other, total 532,781 572,703 573,328 108 100 New England 908 1,219 1,067 118 88 Middle Atlantic 15,343 14,761 18,279 119 124 East North Central 366,400 365,354 360,341 98 99 West North Central 44,535 49,171 50,347 113 102 South Atlantic 23,693 39,943 42,112 178 105 East South Central 17,428 36,027 35,000 201 97 West South Central 2,902 2,233 2,372 82 106 Mountain 2,218 3,379 3,804 172 113 Pacific 59,354 60,616 60,006 101 99 Published by: Dairy Market News - Madison, WI FLORENCE KONE-GONZALEZ, (608)422-8594 Email: florence.konegonzalez@usda.gov Additional Dairy Market News Information: Dairy Market News (DMN) by Phone: (608)422-8602 DMN Website: https://www.ams.usda.gov/market-news/dairy DMN MARS (My Market News): https://mymarketnews.ams.usda.gov