MD_DA840 Cheese - Western U.S. Report 42 - Released on October 20, 2021 Demand for cheese, in both retail and food service sectors, is steady to higher across the West. Holiday cheese demand is picking up, and export interests are steady. Production is mixed throughout the region. Some cheesemakers are operating at maximum capacity, but others report limitations due to persistent staffing issues. Some plant managers are reportedly focusing on making white cheese blocks to drive production of lucrative high protein whey concentrates. Cheese inventories are available for spot purchasing, with blocks more widely available than barrels currently. Congestion at ports and trucking issues continue to pose challenges to transportation. Since June, cheese block prices have been higher than barrel prices on the CME, but that trend inverted this week. Some contacts suggest that this switch is due to the higher production and availability of cheese blocks. In the West, wholesale prices are down $.0175 for process, and down $.0225 for cheddar block, cuts and Monterey Jack. Swiss cut wholesale prices are unchanged from the previous week. WHOLESALE SELLING PRICES: DELIVERED DOLLARS PER POUND(MIXED LOTS (1000-5000 POUNDS)) Cheddar 10 pound Cuts 2.1125-2.3125 Cheddar 40 pound Block 1.8650-2.3550 Monterey Jack 10 pounds 2.1000-2.3750 Process American 5 pound Loaf 1.8775-2.1325 Swiss 6-9 pound Cuts 3.1125-3.5425 Information for the period October 18 - 22, 2021, issued weekly Secondary Sourced Information: EXPORT ASSISTANCE This week, a cooperative export assistance program accepted requests for export assistance on contracts to sell 254,000 pounds (115 metric tons) of American-type cheese and 40,000 pounds (18 metric tons) of cream cheese. So far this year, the program has assisted member cooperatives who have contracts to sell 38 million pounds of American-type cheeses and 10.5 million pounds of cream cheese in export markets. When combined with butter, AMF, cream cheese and whole milk powder, the program has assisted members with sales of 1.205 billion pounds of milk on a milkfat basis. Published by: Dairy Market News - Madison, WI ROMAN CARAMAN, 608-422-8593 Email: roman.caraman@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