MD_DA840                                                         
DA                                                               
MD DA840 Cheese - West                                           

MADISON, WI.  November 24, 2009 (REPORT 47)                      

WEST CHEESE  

Cash block cheese prices at the CME Group continue to show strength.  
Block prices have held steady or increased for 16 trading sessions, 
gaining 11 3/4 cents in the process to stand at $1.6250 on Tuesday of 
the holiday week.  Barrels have been lagging behind since the first 
week of November, but they did rebound last Friday, gaining 5 3/4 cents 
in one trading session.  The spread now stand at 11 1/2 cents, down 
from the 14 cents noted last week.  Contacts, however, are not willing 
to call the market tight for barrels.  They want to see some additional 
time going by to see if the increase last Friday makes sense.  Most 
trade sources are calling demand going into the end of the year quite 
good with what the general economy is doing.  There are some concerns 
what will happen when all holiday demand is covered in the next few 
weeks.  Stocks remain on the heavy side of normal by far.  

According to NASS, total Cold Storage holdings of cheese at the end of 
October are 968.4 million pounds, down 2% or 15.5 million pounds from 
last month.  Stocks are up 17% or 139.4 million pounds from last year.  
Swiss stocks total 23.5 million pounds, up slightly from last month.  
Stocks did increase 7% from last year and are now above a year earlier 
for the first time since April 2007.  Stocks have only varied between 
22 and 24 million pounds for the last 13 months.                                                       
                                                                 
WHOLESALE SELLING PRICES:  DELIVERED, DOLLARS PER POUND          
(1000 - 5000 POUNDS MIXED LOTS)                                  
                                                                 
Process 5# Loaf                              : 1.5800-1.8375     
Cheddar 40# Block                            : 1.7200-2.0725     
Cheddar 10# Cuts                             : 1.9000-2.1200     
Monterey Jack 10#                            : 1.9100-2.0700     
Grade A Swiss Cuts 6 - 9#                    : 2.6500-3.0900     

Donaldo.nelson@ams.usda.gov 608.250.3206
1400C