30 December 2011

2 minute read

North America

Meanwhile, Class III futures open interest is up five per cent. Cheese futures became the second-mostactive contract traded in 2011, with open interest topping 7,600 yesterday.

In addition, Class IV futures and options have garnered increased attention after posting less than 200 open contracts at the end of 2010. Open interest on butter futures is up 76 per cent to nearly 4,000 contracts.

2011 saw record-high milk production, record-high exports and record-high prices. Milk production will come in around 196.1 billion lbs., up 1.7 per cent from last year. With most of the growth in the Western region, butter production was up 17 per cent in the first 10 months of the year, while NDM/SMP output was up seven per cent.

Cheese production was up just 1.6 per cent, a smaller increase than in recent years, but still on pace for a new all-time high.

In the first 10 months of the year, US dairy exports were worth $3.96 billion, up 29 per cent from last year. Overall export volumes were about nine per cent ahead of 2010’s pace, led by gains in shipments of NDM/SMP (+15 per cent), cheese (+31 per cent) and butterfat (+17 per cent).

For the first time, the All-Milk price average will exceed $20 for the whole year. The 2011 average will be about $20.10, up 24 per cent from last year (see chart).

The Class III price will average $18.36 (+27 per cent) and the Class IV price will average $19.06 (+26 per cent).