MD_DA810 Cheese - Northeastern U.S. Report 16 - Released on April 20, 2022 Steady milk supplies are clearing to Class III operations. Production is busy for Northeastern cheesemakers. However, operating capacity for some cheesemaking plants is challenged by ongoing labor pool issues and shortages of trucks/drivers and production/packaging supplies. Additionally, a recent blast of wintery weather reportedly caused hazardous road conditions, contributing to some delivery delays. Cheese inventories are plentiful. U.S. prices are competitive on export markets, and global cheese demand is tenacious. Stateside, cheese sales are firm to higher, as well. Retail sales are good. Food service demand is stable to growing as the restaurant sector continues its rebound. Retail sales are good. On the CME this week through Tuesday, block and barrel price movement has been, cumulatively, downward. Despite this, Tuesday's prices remain above last week's average prices, and the inversion of the block and barrel price relationship persists. In the Northeast, wholesale cheese prices for both cheddar and Muenster are up $0.0425, and process cheese prices increased $0.0875. Grade A Swiss prices are unchanged this week. WHOLESALE SELLING PRICES: DELIVERED DOLLARS PER POUND(MIXED LOTS (1000-5000 POUNDS)) Cheddar 40 pound Block 2.7875-3.0750 Muenster 2.7750-3.1250 Process American 5 pound Sliced 2.4875-2.9675 Swiss 10-14 pound Cuts 3.7400-6.0625 Information for the period April 18 - 22, 2022, issued weekly Secondary Sourced Information: EXPORT ASSISTANCE This week, a cooperative export assistance program accepted requests for export assistance to sell 1.7 million pounds (787 metric tons) of American-type cheese. So far this year, the program has assisted member cooperatives with contracts to sell 42.1 million pounds of American-type cheeses. Published by: Dairy Market News - Madison, WI CHELSEA ROCHELLE, 608-422-8594 Email: Chelsea.Rochelle@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