GDT: Dairy prices steady, mozzarella surges 5.1%

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Prices didn’t budge in the latest Global Dairy Trade auction, held overnight, recording a 0.0% result across the board.

This follows a 0.6% dip two weeks ago, where all products except butter slid into negative territory.

Whole milk powder - which has the biggest impact on Fonterra’s farmgate milk price - recorded a 0.2% lift to an average of US$4052/MT.

Skim milk powder - Fonterra’s second-biggest reference product – dropped 0.4% to an average of US$2729/MT.

Anhydrous milk fat fell 1.8% to an average of US$6561/MT.

Lactose recorded a 0.5% lift to an average of US$1165/MT.

Cheddar lifted 1.0% to an average of US$4976/MT, and butter gained 1.1% to an average of US$7667/MT.

Mozzarella recorded the largest increase - up 5.1%, to an average of US$4704/MT.

Butter milk powder was not available at this event.

A total of 19,540 MT of product was purchased by 111 successful bidders, compared to 22,651 MT and 120 winning bidders last time.

On December 5, Fonterra raised its farmgate milk price forecast for the 2024/25 season, to between $9.50 and $10.50 per kgMS, with a midpoint of $10.00 per kgMS.

This follows an earlier increase on November 11, when Fonterra’s farmgate milk price forecast lifted to a range of $9.00 and $10.00 per kgMS, with a midpoint of $9.50 per kgMS.

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