Cheese
Markets seem to be stabilizing, is it temporarily?
Europe
Where do we go from here?
After four months of falling prices the EU cheese market appears to have reached a status quo. A lot of cheese has changed hands in the past months and market participants are now taking a moment to relax and develop a view on the most likely price trends going forward. The market fundamentals have not changed but with the sell side generally comfortable about their stock levels there is some time to contemplate whether all the fundamentals have now been priced in. Gouda is on offer right now at about EUR 2850-2950 ex works, and Mozzarella at EUR 2800-2850 ex works, with the ranges in the prices reflecting more or less sales pressure at the various sellers. The cheddar price diverges: Eastern EU product is on offer at EUR 3500 and higher, but Irish cheddar costs about EUR 3200-3300, both ex works. Irish sellers are going into down season, but in the UK the availability appears to be much larger still. Competitiveness on the world market has improved at the current price level but the number of deals is as yet small.
Americas
Solid seasonal buying keeps the market balanced
Prices of both colored and white cheddar came down since last month but the market still feels overall balanced. There seems to be some anticipation that the market may loosen up when we get passed the current wave of seasonal demand though. Buyers seem unwilling to commit to too high volumes for 2026 yet, which seems to be indicative of the mindset of the demand side of the market. US cheese is still moving into export markets but with EU Cheddar prices rapidly dropping it is no longer an easy ride. The price of colored cheddar is around USD 1.65/lb (3640/t), which is somewhat lower than white cheddar where the price range is in the high USD 1.60-ies (3700/t) both prices ex works.
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