Inside Milk
Low sales volume keeps Global Dairy Trade stable
The last GDT auction has brought little change in dairy prices. The index is therefore unchanged. The main signal is in the volume traded.
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The traded product volume has been many thousands of tons per auction session below the level of previous years since the start of the new production season in New Zealand, although a seasonal supply increase is visible. Fonterra only brings part of the production for the GDT auction, and other product is also offered there, but the volume of product traded does reflect the lagging production in New Zealand.
Meanwhile, the prices of the traded products barely changed. The registered changes are almost all smaller than 1%. An exception was buttermilk powder (BMP), but this is a very small product in terms of volume.
In addition to a stable market, the auction also points to persistently high dairy prices. Fonterra CEO Miles Hurrel was pleased with this. At the very least, it will provide good incomes for New Zealand dairy farmers, he said. In addition, the high prices on the futures market are encouraging for the rest of the season.