NATIONAL: Cream demand varies as butter production is mixed; some plant managers are purchasing extra cream and increasing butter production while others are pausing churns for a holiday break. Domestic foodservice and retail orders are steady to stronger, and international interests remain robust as well. Healthy butter demand has outpaced production, and spot inventories are said to be tight. Unsalted butter is reportedly more difficult to find than salted.

WEST: Cream is available, though some contacts report that severe weather and a shortage of truck drivers are limiting their ability to deliver loads to production facilities. Cream demand is steady to lower as some Class II producers in the region are running lighter holiday schedules. Steady demand is present for butter in both retail and foodservice markets. Some purchasers in the region are, reportedly, looking for extra loads of butter to build inventories. Spot loads of butter are growing increasingly scarce. Some purchasers report that they are unable to find loads of unsalted butter to meet current market demands. Stakeholders say that strong demand and limited availability have contributed to higher market prices. Butter makers are, reportedly, running below capacity.

CENTRAL: Butter producers are running the churns as much as possible currently, as more days off are looming despite widely available cream stores. Bulk butter is very tight, according to contacts. The final weeks of 2021 have brought increasing interests from customers in all varieties of butter from salted 80 percent to unsalted 82 percent butterfat. The CME prices have responded in kind. CME butter prices have risen $0.42 since December 1st. During the waning trading days of 2020, CME butter prices were in the low $1.40s, for comparison.

NORTHEAST: Local churning has increased sharply with the availability of excess cream volumes. Cream multiples are quite low, varying flat market to 1.10. Most feel that these offerings will remain heavy into next week. Butter manufacturers are holding current production, when possible, for their future needs. Meanwhile, the demand for packaged butter is slowing along yearend seasonal patterns. Retailers are working down existing stocks before reordering. As the market speculates lower pricing in the offing, the CME spot butter price steadily climbs higher and continued to soar to begin this week. Contacts report that bulk butter is in tight supply.