GDT: Dairy prices dip 0.3% in latest auction, no change for whole milk powder

Only two products moved positively at the latest Global Dairy Trade auction. Photo / DairyNZ

Prices have dropped slightly in the latest Global Dairy Trade auction, held overnight, with a 0.3% decrease across the board.

This follows an increase from two weeks ago of 1.2% and a 0.8 % increase from the event before that.

There was no change for whole milk powder — which has the biggest impact on Fonterra’s farmgate milk price — which held steady at an average of US$3553/MT.

Skim milk powder — Fonterra’s second-biggest reference product — dropped 1.8% to an average of US$2754/MT.

On the positive side, cheddar recorded the largest increase — up 4.2%, to an average of US$4702/MT, and anhydrous milk fat gained a modest 0.3% to an average of US$7229/MT.

However, it was all downhill from there.

Butter slipped 0.3% to an average of US$6495/MT, this is after a 1.4% drop at the previous auction.

Lactose dropped 5.8% to an average of US$895/MT, a far cry from two weeks ago when it recorded the largest increase of 6.7%.

The biggest percentage fall came from mozzarella, which plunged 8.2% to an average of US$4559/MT.

Mozzarella also fell the hardest at the previous event, crashing 7.7%.

Butter milk powder was not available at this event.

A total of 38,956 MT of product was purchased by 127 successful bidders, compared to 38,848 MT and 140 winning bidders last time.

On September 25, Fonterra revised its farmgate milk price forecast for the 2024/25 season, to between $8.25/kgMS and $9.75/kgMS, with a midpoint of $9/kgMS.

This follows from August 23, when Fonterra’s farmgate milk price forecast was between $7.75/kgMS and $9.25/kgMS, with a midpoint of $8.50/kgMS.

The final farmgate milk price for the 2023-2024 season was $7.83/kgMS milk solids.