GDT: Dairy prices drop 4.1%, whole milk powder down 5.1%

Prices continue to drop in the latest Global Dairy Trade auction, held overnight, with a 4.1% decrease across the board.

It is the largest decline this calendar year, following a 1% dip from the previous auction, and is the fourth consecutive event where the average price has decreased.

Whole milk powder, which has the biggest impact on Fonterra’s farmgate milk price, recorded the largest drop, plunging 5.1%, to an average of US$3859/MT.

This is after a 2.1% fall at the last auction.

Skim milk powder - Fonterra’s second-biggest reference product – was down 1.7%, to an average of US$2718/MT.

This follows a 1.3% decrease at the previous event.

Cheddar was down 2.8%, to an average of US$4860/MT, after gaining the largest increase of 5.1% two weeks ago.

Butter dropped 4.3% to an average of US$7522/MT.

Anhydrous milk fat was not far behind, falling 4.2% to an average of US$6928/MT.

Mozzarella had a slight dip of 0.2% to an average of US$4790/MT.

On the positive side, lactose rose 4.2% to an average of US$1375/MT, and butter milk powder had the largest increase, a whopping 9.3% to an average of US$3124/MT.

At the previous event, lactose dropped 3.6% and butter milk powder was not available.

25,705 MT of product was purchased by 110 successful bidders, compared to 15,209 MT and 110 winning bidders last time.

On May 29, Fonterra announced an opening forecast farmgate milk price for the 2025/26 season of $10.00 per kgMS, with a wide forecast range of $8.00 - $11.00 per kgMS.

The forecast for the 2024/25 season was left unchanged at a range of between $9.70kgMS - $10.30kgMS -with a $10.00kgMS midpoint.