Analysis dairy
Foil cheese reinforces the role of milk price saver
The cheese price has a special role on the dairy market this year and is increasingly acting as a milk price saver. And although Gouda foil cheese has been the best-yielding commodity for months, the product took it up a notch last week. According to producers and traders, especially since the 'private label exchange' PLMA in Amsterdam. In the meantime, the spot milk price does not continue its advance towards the payout price.
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The DCA quotation for this week is €3.555 per tonne, but anyone who still has to order now will be told by the major manufacturers that they will have to pay €3.650. Some producers even dare to ask €100 per tonne more.
Whether this is realistic should become clear in the coming weeks. For the time being, only limited volumes are being sold for the third quarter of this year at a price of €3.650, but the supply is also reportedly limited.
Anyone who wants foil cheese with the Frau Antje label also has to pay more than €100 extra.
Mozzarella is also participating in the price increase and is listed at €3.490 per 1.000 kilos. It is currently the most sold type of cheese and is experiencing the season. The price mentioned also makes it the most attractive cheese for manufacturers to make, because it has a higher moisture content/lower dry matter content.
Prices for Cheddar and Emmentaler cheeses are more stable at the same time. All Cheddar Curds are still increasing in price. It is also remarkable that, while foil cheese is rising sharply in price, the price of natural cheese is lagging behind. Young natural cheese now costs about the same as foil cheese, and is therefore less attractive to make.
There are still mainly small gains to be noted on the powder market this week, except for whey powder for feed applications. The mood in this market is also a bit lukewarm, because there is not a lot of demand, not even from export markets. In recent weeks, various volumes have been sold to the Middle East and North Africa, but things have become quieter from there. A small piece of luck for Europe is that the dollar exchange rate helps a little. It is also relatively quiet within Europe, it is reported.
Prices fell the most in the liquid dairy market this week. Skimmed milk concentrate lost €120,00 per ton at DCA, cream €200,00. The cause is reduced demand from the fresh market. According to market parties, concentrate is still too expensive for the production of skimmed milk powder.
The price of butter is also under slight pressure. The market for raw spot milk appears to be broadly stable, but according to several parties, prices clearly fell towards the end of the week. The peak in milk supply is over. There is therefore not a huge supply of product, but there is also little demand.