International dairy co-operative Arla Foods has announced it will cut its on-account milk price by €0.01/kg with effect from December 1, 2018.
When applied to the UK manufacturing litre it equates to a reduction of 0.89p/L, taking the UK standard litre price to 31.57p.
Arla Foods board director, Johnnie Russell, said: “While seasonal demand is in part enabling prices to remain relatively stable, European milk volumes are holding up better than expected and global volumes continue to grow, which has resulted in reduced market prices overall.
“As highlighted at our recent round of regional farmer meetings, despite the current global market trends, Arla continues to deliver returns as a result of its transformational efficiency and cost savings programme, Calcium, and remains focused on maximising the returns from the marketplace.
“This is also helped by our farmer initiatives such the Arla UK 360 programme, which continues to be positively received by the industry and our customers.”
Christmas sales drive
Graham Wilkinson, head of agriculture at Arla added: “Christmas is an occasion where dairy is prominent on many tables across the UK and Arla will continue to push the growth in sales of our branded products during this key time.
We operate within a global market which is experiencing higher than anticipated product availability and this is putting pressure on prices.
“A key growth area for Arla is within organic, but right now organic volumes in the UK are still under pressure and we are working with the support of our customers and farmers so we can fuel this growth and meet the growing needs of consumers.”
