Dairy prices have dipped at the fortnightly GlobalDairyTrade auction.
The GDT Price Index was down 2.4 per cent and the average price down to $US3223 per metric tonne on Wednesday morning.
The important whole milk powder price fell 2.7 per cent to $US3037 a tonne and butter milk powder was down 10.3 per cent to $US1804 a tonne.
Analysts were expecting dairy prices to improve at the auction after wet weather hampered the start of the peak months for milk production.
Nigel Brunel, director financial markets at OM Financial, told the Herald on Monday predicting dairy trade auction outcomes had become something of a lottery but a 5 per cent increase in wholemilk powder prices this week looked possible.