MD_DA440 Butter - Western U.S. Report 22 - Released on May 27, 2020 Western butter contacts say retail sales are strong, but bulk butter demand is weak. The opening of restaurants has improved food service account sales, but volumes are a fraction of normal levels. Bulk ingredient sales are a mixed bag, dependent on the finished good being produced. Food service distributors are working to refill the pipeline with product needs, but some buyers are still cautious, hesitant to add on ingredient supplies without more market certainty. As Class II processors and ice cream makers are pulling more heavily on cream stocks, less cream is moving into the churn, relieving a bit of pressure on butter makers. Although the combination of slightly better demand and lighter production has cut into stocks, butter inventories are long. Some butter makers say they would like to store more print butter for Q3 and Q4 holiday needs, but a lot of space is taken up with bulk butter supplies. Prices for: Western U.S., All First Sales, F.O.B., Grade AA, Conventional, and Edible Butter Bulk Basis Pricing - 80% Butterfat $/LB: -0.0200 - +0.0500 Information for the period May 25 - 29, 2020, issued weekly Secondary Sourced Information: Cold Storage – Butter Summary Released May 21, 2020, by the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), Agricultural Statistics Board, United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). 4/30/20 Stocks in all Warehouses (1,000 pounds) as a percent of 4/30/19 3/31/20 4/30/20 4/30/19 3/31/20 Butter Stocks 290,820 309,587 368,666 127 119 CME CLOSING PRICE The Grade AA butter price at the CME Group on Wednesday closed at $1.5775, compared to the weekly average price of $1.6160 from last week. EXPORT ASSISTANCE This week, a cooperative export assistance program accepted requests for 252,980 million pounds (115 metric tons) of butter. So far this year, the program has assisted member cooperatives who have contracts to sell 6.056 million pounds of butter (82% milkfat) and 1.960 million pounds of anhydrous milkfat in export markets. When combined with other dairy products, the program has assisted members with sales of 516 million pounds of milk on a milkfat basis. Published by: Dairy Market News - Madison, WI MIKE BANDLI, (608)422-8592 Email: mike.bandli@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