Article

Commodities: Gas prices start to level off, while cheese gets pricier again

The market was a mixed bag last week for pizza restaurateurs. Gas prices have begun to level off after weeks of declining from the early summer highs typically seen around the travel season. Likewise, cheese prices, which appeared to be dropping, have started an upward trend again.

August 22, 2016 by S.A. Whitehead — Food Editor, Net World Media Group

The market was a mixed bag last week for pizza restaurateurs. Gas prices have begun to level off after weeks of declining from the early summer highs typically seen around the travel season. Likewise, cheese prices, which appeared to be dropping, have started an upward trend again. In pizza stocks, Domino's and Papa Murphy's saw price improvements, while Pizza Hut parent, Yum! Brands, and Papa John's experienced declines.  

Cheese  
The price of cheese rebounded after beginning to decline earlier in August. Friday's price was $1.87, up 9 cents from the previous close of $1.78, as well as 5 cents from two weeks ago when it was $1.82. 

Gasoline and diesel fuel
The price of a gallon of regular unleaded gas today is up slightly, to $2.16 on average nationwide, about 4 cents higher than last week's average, but still down about 2 cents from a month ago and well below the $2.62 paid on average last year. 
Mid-grade this morning was up 3 cents from last week to $2.43 a gallon. That's well below last year’s national average price of $2.88. 
Premium fuel was up 4 cents from a week ago to $2.33. A year ago, premium was priced at $3.08. 
Diesel fuel actually rose 4 cents from a week earlier to $2.33, which was down 2 cents from the previous month and well below a year ago when the price averaged around $2.63. 

Natural gas
Natural gas spot prices were mixed this report week (Aug. 10–17), but overall price changes were small at most locations. The Henry Hub spot price fell from $2.73 per million British thermal units (MMBtu) last Wednesday to $2.71/MMBtu yesterday. At the New York Mercantile Exchange, the September 2016 contract rose nearly 6 cents, from $2.561/MMBtu last Wednesday to $2.619/MMBtu yesterday.
Net injections to working gas totaled 22 Bcf for the week ending Aug. 12. Working gas stocks are 3,339 Bcf, which is 11 percent greater than the year-ago level and 14 percent greater than the five-year (2011-15) average for this week.
According to Baker Hughes, for the week ending Friday, Aug. 12, the natural gas rig count increased by two to 83. The number of oil-directed rigs rose by 15 to 396. The total rig count climbed by 17, and now stands at 481.
The natural gas plant liquids composite price at Mont Belvieu, Texas, rose by 6 cents, closing at $4.62/MMBtu for the week ending Aug. 12. The prices of natural gasoline and propane rose by 7 percent and 1 percent, respectively. The price of ethane fell by 3 percent, and the price of butane and isobutane remained flat week over week.
This report week, the Henry Hub spot price fell 2 cents from $2.73/MMBtu last Wednesday to $2.71/MMBtu yesterday. Price movements at the Henry Hub were subdued this week; the spot price closed at $2.71/MMBtu for the last three trading days. At the Chicago Citygate prices decreased 3 cents from $2.69/MMBtu last Wednesday to $2.66/MMBtu yesterday. However, prices at PG&E Citygate in California gained 3 cents, going from $3.12/MMBtu last Wednesday to $3.15/MMBtu yesterday.

Pizza company stocks 
Domino's was up on the week to $147.28 from $146.58  the previous week, but the parent brand for competitor Pizza Hut, was actually down on the week. Yum! Brands, Inc. closed the week at $89.31, down slightly from $90.20 the previous week. 
Papa John's closed down from $75.29 a week ago to $74.93 last Friday. The reverse was true for Papa Murphy's which closed the week at $6.13, up from $6.05 a week earlier. 

About S.A. Whitehead

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Pizza Marketplace and QSRweb editor Shelly Whitehead is a former newspaper and TV reporter with an affinity for telling stories about the people and innovative thinking behind great brands.