Article

Commodities: Cheese, natural gas down

The prices for cheese and natural gas decreased, wheat and gasoline increased, and pizza stocks fluctuated.

October 12, 2015 by Travis Wagoner — Editor, Networld Media Group

The prices for cheese and natural gas decreased, wheat and gasoline increased, and pizza stocks fluctuated. Here’s a look at the rest of the market.

Cheese

Average block cheese decreased during the week on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, falling 10 cents from Monday to Friday. The prices were $1.80 Monday, $1.74 Tuesday, $1.73 Wednesday, $1.67 Thursday and $1.70 Friday. The prices for the week ending Oct. 2 were $1.59 Monday, $1.64 Tuesday, $1.67 Wednesday, $1.71 Thursday and $1.75 Friday.

Wheat

Wheat prices increased again this week, hitting $5.30 on the Minneapolis Grain Exchange, up from $5.27.

Gasoline and diesel fuel

Monday's nationwide average for regular unleaded gasoline increased to $2.31 from $2.29 the previous week, according to AAA and the Oil Price Information Service.

Prices are down from $2.35 a month ago, and are significantly lower than this time last year, when consumers were paying $3.21 at the pump.

Mid-range unleaded is up 2 cents to $2.58, while Monday's premium unleaded price was $2.80, up 1 cent from last week.

The nationwide average for diesel fuel increased to $2.53, up from $2.49 from a week ago. Diesel prices are also down from $2.54 a month ago, and are more than $1 down from a year ago, when prices were $3.68.

Natural gas

Natural gas prices declined slightly in most market locations over the report week (Wednesday, Sept. 30, to Wednesday, Oct. 7), with the exception of the Northeast. The Henry Hub spot price began the week at $2.47 per million British thermal units (MMBtu) last Wednesday then closed the week down by 1 cent at $2.46/MMBtu yesterday.

At the New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex), the November near-month contract decreased from $2.524/MMBtu last Wednesday to $2.474/MMBtu yesterday.

Working natural gas in storage increased by 95 Bcf, rising to 3,633 Bcf as of Friday, Oct. 2. The net injection into storage resulted in storage levels 14 percent above a year ago and 4 percent above the five-year average for this week.

Pizza company stocks

Shares in Pizza Hut parent Yum! Brands Inc. closed Friday at $70.30, down nearly $12 from last Friday’s $82.

Domino's finished last week at $105.40, down more than $2 from last week’s $107.

Papa John's decreased to $68.30, from last week’s $68.32.

Shares in Papa Murphy’s closed at $14.81, up from last week’s last week’s $14.17. Three weeks ago it closed at $16.40.

About Travis Wagoner

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Travis Wagoner spent nearly 18 years in education as an alumni relations and communications director, coordinating numerous annual events and writing, editing and producing a quarterly, 72-plus-page magazine. Travis also was a ghostwriter for an insurance firm, writing about the Affordable Care Act. He holds a BA degree in communications/public relations from Xavier University.