MD_DA851 Cheese Highlights Report 48 - Released on December 2, 2022 Milk is plentiful for cheese making in all regions, and processors in the Northeast and West say they are running active production schedules this week. In the Midwest, some cheesemakers are keeping full schedules while others report some downtime for scheduled maintenance this and next week. Some volumes of spot milk are being sold at a discount in the Midwest, though demand slowdowns are preventing some cheesemakers from purchasing additional loads of milk. Some Midwestern retail customers have, reportedly, met their holiday purchasing needs. Strong summer and fall demands have abated from cheese barrel purchasers in the Midwest. In the Northeast, stakeholders say demand is steady from both retail and food service customers, but export demand is softening amid declining international prices. Retail demand is steady in the West, while food service demand has picked up following last week's holiday. Information for the period November 28 - December 2, 2022, issued weekly Secondary Sourced Information: CME: Barrels closed at $1.8975 and 40# blocks at $2.1000. The weekly average for barrels is $1.8460 (+0.0243) and blocks, $2.0960 (-0.0873). 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