News

Block cheese prices continue climbing

December 1, 2004

Cheddar prices continued climbing in Dec. 1 trading on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. The going rate for 40-pound blocks was $1.86 per pound, exactly 50 cents per pound higher than on the same date in 2003.

If the axiom that history repeats itself is true, then set your sights and hopes on next year, operators. The last time blocks traded at such highs in December was 1998, when the price was $1.88 per pound. One year later, however, prices plunged to $1.12, and sank a penny further in 2000.

Prices moved up to a very affordable $1.30 in 2001, but were down again to $1.14 by 2002.

Is a market correction on the horizon? With such strong demand for dairy products, analysts are skeptical that if prices fall at all, the decline will be minor.

However, as dairy analyst and PizzaMarketplace contributor Jerry Dryer often says, "When this market corrects, it corrects hard."

Stay tuned, and read related articles in our Cheese Market Analysis Research Center.