US milk futures closed mostly lower in Wednesday's abbreviated trading session as lower cash cheese prices prompted selling, traders said. CME dairy markets closed at noon CST (1800 GMT) on Wednesday and will be closed on Thursday for Christmas and on Friday.
- Also, the Globex trading system was down much of the morning due to technical problems, the CME said. Cheese prices have been trending lower as supplies have exceeded demand, industry sources said. The block cheese price at $1.2700 per lb is the lowest in more than two years.
Class III milk traded at the CME is used to make cheese and its price often moves up or down with cheese prices. In pit trading, January closed down 11 cents at $11.47 per cwt and February down 14 cents at $11.56. In electronic trading, December was down 11 cents at $14.97, January down 14 at $11.56 and February down 15 at $11.56.