Dairy product prices climb as whole milk powder gains on decreased supply

Wednesday 5th December 2018

Dairy product prices rose at the Global Dairy Trade auction, stemming a decline that began in May.

The GDT price index gained 2.2 percent from the previous auction two weeks ago. The average price was a US$2,819 a tonne, compared with US$2,727 a tonne two weeks ago. Some 36,450 tonnes of product was sold, down from 42,966 tonnes two weeks ago.

Whole milk powder climbed 2.5 percent to US$2,667 a tonne.

“There was likely increased demand for whole milk powder given the lower volumes on offer compared with the previous event,” NZX dairy analyst Amy Castleton said in a note. “Whole milk powder offer volumes are coming back off their peak at the previous GDT event which is in line with normal seasonal trends.”

At the latest GDT auction, butter milk powder soared 16.9 percent to US$2,973 a tonne, while anhydrous milk fat advanced 3.9 percent to US$4,755 a tonne.

Butter added 2.7 percent to US$3,745 a tonne, while rennet casein increased 2.0 percent to US$5,167 a tonne.

Lactose rose 0.5 percent to US$918 a tonne, while skim milk powder inched 0.3 percent higher to US$1,970 a tonne.

Bucking the trend, cheddar fell 2.2 percent to US$3,184 a tonne.

For sweet whey powder, no product was offered or sold, or no price was published for the last event, or on both of the two previous events.

The New Zealand dollar last traded at 69.29 US cents as of 2.01pm in New York, compared with 69.27 US cents at the previous close in Wellington.

There were 139 winning bidders out of 178 participating at the 18-round auction. The number of registered bidders was 507, up from 503 at the previous auction.

(BusinessDesk)

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