GDT: Dairy prices drop 4.3% in latest auction, whole milk powder down 5.3%

Prices dropped 4.3% in the latest Global Dairy Trade auction.

Prices have slumped in the latest Global Dairy Trade auction, held overnight, with a 4.3% drop across the board.

This follows a small 0.3% fall in the previous event two weeks ago.

Whole milk powder - which has the biggest impact on Fonterra’s farmgate milk price - slumped 5.3%, to an average of US$3809/MT.

Skim milk powder - Fonterra’s second-biggest reference product – plunged 5.8%, to an average of US$2620/MT.

Prices for other products weakened, including butter, which fell 2.5%, to an average of US$6969/MT, mozzarella, which fell 4.6% to an average of US$4244/MT, and anhydrous milk fat, which dropped 2.6% to an average of US$6917/MT.

Butter milk powder recorded the largest fall, plunging 6.3% to an average of US$2868/MT.

Cheddar had the only positive result, lifting 3.6% to an average of US$4709/MT.

Lactose was not offered at this event.

41,465 MT of product was purchased by 113 successful bidders, compared to 36,553 MT and 126 winning bidders last time.

On August 21, Fonterra increased its 2024/25 season forecast Farmgate Milk Price from $10.00 per kgMS to $10.15 per kgMS, narrowing the range from $9.70–$10.30 per kgMS to $10.10–$10.20 per kgMS.

Fonterra also retained the $10.00 per kgMS forecast for the current 2025/26 season, while narrowing the range from $8.00–$11.00 per kgMS to $9.00–$11.00 per kgMS.