Dairy product prices rise, bolstered by whole milk powder

Whole milk powder jumped 6 per cent at the latest auction. Photo/Getty Images.

Dairy product prices increased at the Global Dairy Trade auction, moving higher for the seventh straight time, led by a rally in whole milk powder.

The GDT price index climbed 3.3 per cent from the previous auction two weeks ago. The average price was US$3,309 a tonne, compared with US$3,271 a tonne two weeks ago. Some 23,930 tonnes of product was sold, down from 25,324 tonnes two weeks ago.

Whole milk powder jumped 6 per cent to US$3,186 a tonne.

"Whole milk powder demand is robust at present and this is a very strong result seeing as milk continues to flow (albeit heat impacted in recent weeks) and product volumes are plentiful," Rabobank dairy analyst Emma Higgins said in a note.

At the latest GDT auction, butter milk powder—which was not offered at the previous event—soared 11 per cent to $3,480 a tonne.

Cheddar jumped 6 per cent to US$3,888 a tonne, while anhydrous milk fat gained 3.9 per cent to US$5,837 a tonne.

Butter rose 3.7 per cent to US$4,657 a tonne, while lactose added 0.6 per cent to US$1,009 a tonne.

Meanwhile, skim milk powder dropped 4.3 per cent to US$2,462 a tonne, while rennet casein slipped 0.1 per cent to US$5,649 a tonne.

For sweet whey powder, no product was offered or sold, or no price was published for the last event, or on both of the two previous events.

The New Zealand dollar last traded at 68.01 US cents as of 1.52pm in New York, compared with 68.19 US cents at the previous close in Wellington.

There were 109 winning bidders out of 176 participating at the 14-round auction. The number of registered bidders was 516, up from 513 at the previous auction.

- BusinessDesk