Dairy product prices including whole milk powder unexpectedly drop

Wednesday 4th October 2017

Dairy product prices unexpectedly declined at the Global Dairy Trade auction, falling for the fifth time in eight auctions, amid confidence in ample supply.

The GDT price index fell 2.4 percent from the previous auction two weeks ago to US$3,223. Some 37,990 tonnes of product was sold, up from 34,117 tonnes at the previous auction.

“The NZX Dairy Derivatives market had anticipated a strong lift in prices ..., particularly for whole milk powder, with plenty of trading activity occurring early this week,” AgriHQ dairy analyst Susan Kilsby said in a note. “New Zealand milk production has had a slow start this season, and it appeared that the market was finally taking note of this. But this did not appear in auction results.”

Whole milk powder fell 2.7 percent to US$3,037 a tonne.

“WMP offer volumes were at their seasonal peak at this event,” Kilsby noted. “Nearly all of this product was sold, but buyers were not willing to pay more for it.”

“WMP offer volumes have not changed much despite the poor start to the New Zealand milk production season which may have given buyers the confidence they will not have to compete too hard to secure product,” according to Kilsby.

At the latest auction, butter milk powder slumped 10.3 percent to US$1,804 a tonne, while butter slid 3.6 percent to US$5,837 a tonne.

Anhydrous milk fat fell 3.4 percent to US$6,504 a tonne, while skim milk powder decreased 1.4 percent to US$1,895 a tonne.

Bucking the trend, rennet casein rose 0.9 percent to US$6,123 a tonne, while cheddar declined 1.9 percent to US$4,109 a tonne.

No prices were available for lactose.

The New Zealand dollar last traded at 71.59 US cents at 1.31pm in New York, compared with 71.96 US cents at 5pm in Wellington the previous day.

There were 132 winning bidders out of 149 participating at the 16-round auction. The number of qualified bidders rose to 541, up from 539 at the previous auction.

(BusinessDesk)

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