Milk fat and powders firmer, cheese underlying stable

According to many parties, the decline in cheese prices can be explained by the fact that there is slight stock build-up here and there. That apparently caused concern. Reason why there is slightly more cheaper product available for almost immediate delivery. 

Long-term availability
Prices for deliveries in the third quarter and later are hardly affected by this. Some parties are already concerned about product availability in the fourth quarter. 
The price drops are especially noticeable for Gouda/Edam and mozzarella, less so for Cheddar.

Prices for skimmed milk concentrate were again slightly under pressure. Skimmed milk was also cheaper. This was partly due to additional supply from France and increased cream production. Demand for it increased again last week, while butter was also in good demand.

Remarkably, prices for milk powders rose slightly again, possibly because a relatively large amount of milk goes into the cheese bin. Cheese still has the best value. This naturally results in a smaller supply for milk powder production, because the total milk supply in the EU remains quite tight. The EU is again more competitive on the world market than it was more than a month ago.

In the meantime, prices for whey powder have remained fairly stable, although there are voices here and there that believe that whey powder for feed is still falling slightly in price. There is now also quite a lot of thickened, liquid whey available at low prices. Whey generally comes last in the line when it comes to drying certain dairy raw materials.