Inside Milk
Does butter price live up to expectations?
The butter price cannot bring this season what happened in previous years, because then the prices rose to record highs. Prices are currently under pressure due to high stocks and weak exports outside the European Union.
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In the first 4 months of this year, European butter exports fell by 5% to 47.162 tons. The falling butter prices are attracting the cheese market also down. It is striking that cheese exports outside Europe are ahead of last year.
The price of whole milk powder is also under pressure, while the price for skimmed milk powder is at the ceiling. This advance was due to a huge increase in exports (+34% to 347.935 tons) from European member states in the first 4 months of this year, compared to the same period in 2018.
Smaller price gap for fat and protein
The price gap between milk fat and milk protein has narrowed in recent months, although it has certainly not closed yet. Moreover, it is not likely that the two milk components will move closer together in the short term.
Butter prices are expected to quickly reach a bottom, while skimmed milk powder prices will probably only rise to a limited extent.
This article is part of this week's published Trend report Milk & Feed Pro, which also focuses on the manure market, interest rate market and feed market. Click here to read the Trend Report.