According to USDA, December ’13 U.S. butter stocks declined to a new 24 month low of 111.4 million pounds. Typically, U.S. butter stocks begin to rebound in December after month-over-month decreases from the summer months until November; however December ’13 stocks declined 8.4% from November ’13 totals and 27.2% from December ’12 totals. Most of the decline in butter stocks can be attributed to an increase in exports, which accounted for 68% of the drawdown from May-November. December ’13 butter stocks of 111.4 million pounds were 6.1% below the five year average December butter stocks of 118.7 million pounds. December ’13 U.S. cheese stocks of 1.01 billion pounds were fairly flat on both a month-over-month and year-over-year basis. December ’13 stocks increased 1.2% month-over-month, but were 1.4% lower than December ’12 totals.