Analysis Raw materials
Liquid and whey higher in further weak dairy market
The dairy market is once again characterized this week by a series of conflicting, or at least seemingly conflicting, signals. For example, liquid dairy products are relatively readily available, but their prices are rising. The price of butter is also falling further, but cream is becoming more expensive.
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Of course, there are other factors influencing the market, but many parties, particularly in the trade, believe that the increasing supply of liquid dairy products and the further decline in butter prices are a sign of the same underlying cause: the milk supply at factories has become too high for the current market price level.
Especially since there's relatively little demand. Another sign, in their opinion, is the increasing average age of cheese, especially foil cheese.
Dairy producers believe these conclusions are rather simplistic, but they don't dispute that there's currently a generous supply of the product. In several European countries, milk supply is now well above last year's levels.
The market for "flat" whey powders didn't seem to be affected, but due to the strong demand for the more expensive whey derivatives, less regular whey powder was produced. This market appears to be increasingly clearing, as stocks of whey powder are shrinking, but little new whey has been added. This now appears to be affecting the prices of both regular, flat whey powder for both food and feed.