The latest Global Dairy Trade has more or less held steady on the previous auction, posting a marginal 0.4% fall.
The average price paid for dairy product at today’s event stood at US$2,345/MT with 32,000t of product traded.
Most dairy market commentators continue to be of the view that there will be no sustained increase until there was a clear indication about increased demand in world markets and some sign of a drop off in supply, particularly out of the EU.
Key Results
- AMF index up 1.1%, average price US$3,621/MT
- Butter index down 3.1%, average price US$2,828/MT
- BMP index down 7.5%, average price US$1,552/MT
- Ched index down 0.5%, average price US$2,902/MT
- LAC index down 1.2%, average price US$750/MT
- RenCas index up 4.9%, average price US$5,227/MT
- SMP index up 2.6%, average price US$1,938/MT
- WMP index down 1.6%, average price US$2,062/MT
Meanwhile, EU dairy products’ prices generally increased in recent weeks compared to the previous four weeks’ average.
Latest figures from the EU milk market observatory show a 4.7% increase for butter, 4.3% for WMP, 1.4% for SMP, while cheddar decreased by 1.3%.
Meanwhile, spot milk prices also improved further last week, in Italy 27.3c/kg and in the Netherlands 26.5c/kg.
According to the AHDB, the fat market has been the main driver behind the recent increases in commodity prices.
The EU Commission publishes average EU prices each week and these have shown butter up 11% in three weeks.
While there have been a number of short-term price increases recorded over the last 18 months that didn’t result in a sustained recovery in prices, the AHDB says this latest rise is the strongest recorded for more than three years.
“The upturn in butter prices appears to have been a bit of a surprise for some. A number of traders are explaining it as buyers with lower-than-expected stocks needing to fill stores before the summer.
“Certainly the higher butterfat levels in milk this year suggest there is plenty of fat around, but if buyers have left themselves short, prices will go up,” it says.
Meanwhile, prices for Skimmed Milk Powder are slower to increase. They are trending upwards, but not as rapidly as butter.
