GDT: Dairy prices up auction gain 1.1%, skim milk powder leaps 5.9%

There was a mixed bag of prices in the latest Global Dairy Trade auction. Photo / Duncan Brown

Prices have lifted in the latest Global Dairy Trade auction, held overnight, with a 1.1% increase across the board.

This comes after the previous event two weeks ago, where prices didn’t budge.

Whole milk powder - which has the biggest impact on Fonterra’s farmgate milk price - dipped 0.1% to an average of US$4062/MT.

Skim milk powder - Fonterra’s second-biggest reference product – clocked the largest increase, up 5.9%, to an average of US$2876/MT.

Anhydrous milk fat gained 2.3% to an average of US$6705/MT, and cheddar was up 1.7% to an average of US$5018/MT.

It was all downhill from there, however.

Butter milk powder dropped the furthest, down 5.6% to an average of US$2807/MT.

Mozzarella was not far behind, decreasing 4.0% to an average of US$4517/MT, after being the star of the show at the last event, where it leapt 5.1%.

Lactose was down 2.6% to an average of US$1132/MT.

Butter rounded out the negative results, slipping 1.2% to an average of US$7602/MT.

A total of 17,643 MT of product was purchased by 123 successful bidders, compared to 19,540 MT and 111 winning bidders last time.

On March 20, Fonterra narrowed its farmgate milk price forecast for the 2024/25 season to between $9.70kgMS - $10.30kgMS, which retained a $10.00kgMS midpoint.

This follows an earlier increase on December 5, when Fonterra’s farmgate milk price forecast lifted to a range between $9.50 and $10.50kgMS, with a midpoint of $10.00kgMS.

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