Prices fall again in latest Global Dairy Trade auction

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Prices fell for the eighth consecutive time in the latest Global Dairy Trade auction, held overnight.

Across the board, the index dropped 1 per cent overall – a smaller reduction than the 2.9 per cent seen two weeks ago, or the 3.8 per cent prior to that.

Whole Milk Powder - which has the biggest influence on Fonterra's farmgate milk price - fell 3.8 per cent for the second successive event and over US$130/MT yet again, to average US$3598/MT.

It wasn't all bad, however.

On the back of a 7.0 per cent drop last month and further 5.2 per cent drop two weeks ago, Skim Milk Powder - Fonterra's second biggest reference product - finally rallied 1.5 per cent to an average US$3020/MT.

Butter, which had been hovering above the US$5000/MT mark earlier this year, lifted 3.8 per cent and over $170/MT to an average US$4589/MT.

Cheddar, built on a 1.3 per cent lift in the previous event, to finish up 0.7 per cent and average US$4065/MT, while Anhydrous Milk Fat rose 1.3 per cent to an average US$5668/MT.

The biggest decline, however, came from Butter Milk Powder, which fell 8.0 per cent to an average US$3246/MT - although very little product was offered, and this was not traded in the previous event.

Lactose also experienced a drop - down 3.1 per cent to an average US$1094/MT.

Sweet Whey Powder was not offered at this event.

The volume of product traded rose slightly from the previous event with a total of 24,084 MT of product sold to 119 successful bidders.

Fonterra chief executive Miles Hurrell told The Country's Jamie Mackay he wasn't worried about the drop in whole milk powder.

"We always expected for this year to start higher and, as the year progressed, to see those high prices that we saw back in March come off a bit."

However, Hurrell admitted it had "probably come off a bit earlier than expected," but that demand was still robust despite this.

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An increase in skim milk powder was the result of keeping a premium over European competitors, while butter's rise was due to an increase in consumer and food service demand in developing economies, Hurrell said.

Shipping was also going well, thanks to Fonterra's long-term partnership with Maersk, Port of Tauranga and Kotahi.

"We got most of our products away that we wanted to, so feeling really positive about that."

Also in today's interview: Hurrell talked about how shareholders have responded to Fonterra's capital restructure process.