An almost stable market, in which all sorts of things happen. This is the best way to describe the current situation in the dairy market. A single quotation is still going up, such as for skimmed milk powder and cream. Others remain stable or fall slightly.
It seems that parties in the dairy industry are once again looking for direction. The European product remains too expensive for the export market and Fonterra's GDT auction could not provide a good indication of this. Buyers on the EU internal market are also concerned about high prices.
There has been little movement in the quotations on the butter market for a long time, but because (industrial) parties are still looking for cheaper alternatives, other products are coming in, for example from New Zealand, but also from Ukraine and Turkey. That product does not end up in the supermarket, but does go to food companies, whether or not in the form of blends. Meanwhile, the price of cream continues to rise. This trade is a matter of small volumes.
Something similar is happening with skimmed milk powder. Skimmed milk powder is quoted at DCA at €3.670 per tonne. There is also an even more expensive product available. German prices are about €300 higher. At the same time, there is also a lot of product available that is cheaper. It is still a European product, but often a mixed product with a smaller part of other origins. This broadens the offer for parties that have difficulty getting by with the purely Dutch or European product.
The quotations for whole milk powder and whey powder are slightly lower this week. Whey powder remains a particularly expensive product for the animal feed industry.
According to various sources, the cheese market feels a little more stable, but this is not yet very visible in the prices.
The quotations for Gouda and Edam foil cheese remain unchanged this week, and a minus has even been recorded for mozzarella. Cheddar does rank higher. Nevertheless, the producers of Gouda and Edam cheese are optimistic about the market. They say they are feeling more interest from buyers.
The liquid dairy market is feeling slightly weaker. There is a lot more concentrate for sale. It is more attractive for many companies to sell more liquid product than to dry it into milk powder. However, due to declining demand from fresh production, more remains. There is more interest in cream, although this market is not large. As a result, the quotation for this product continues to rise.