Analysis milk
Easter brings no break in trend in the dairy market
The movement on the dairy market before Easter is also present in the week immediately after Easter, but in a slightly weakened form. Read more about the direction of the dairy market.
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Prices for solid dairy products are weakening slightly further, except for whey powders. Butter prices remain virtually stable, as do prices for raw milk. The only real risers are prices for skimmed milk concentrate and cream. However, the price increases for these products are a watered-down version of the movements a week earlier.
The price for concentrate, in particular, is still benefiting from strong demand from the ice cream industry, among others. Had that not been the case, the price would almost certainly have looked less favorable, as there was lower demand from Greece this week. Eastern Orthodox Easter is being celebrated there this weekend.
Cream prices are up 5% this week. Spot prices for raw milk show little change in the Netherlands and Germany, although slightly higher prices are being paid here and there in the southern and eastern parts of Germany. The market in France also seems to be picking up slightly. Overall, however, it remains difficult to get the raw milk market back to the normal pattern of other years. There is simply a very large supply.
The milk powder market cooled down a little further this week, but nevertheless remains at an excellent price level. Even at current prices, skimmed milk powder continues to perform above the long-term average.
Moreover, the Dutch and European product is currently still the most competitive offering on the world market, although the weak dollar is causing the difference with the American product to decrease slightly.
The cheese market also feels slightly weaker. Nevertheless, prices here are by no means bad. Moreover, the cheese sector's return is substantially supplemented by excellent prices for whey and whey products.
Liquid whey concentrate commands excellent prices. The same applies to 'ordinary' whey powders, and this is even more true for high-quality whey powders, such as WPC80. The prices for this (albeit highly concentrated) product dwarf those of almost all other dairy products.