World dairy prices fall 1.9pc (+graphic)

A milk tanker leaves the Te Rapa Fonterra Dairy Factory. Photo / Christine Cornege

Prices of dairy products fell for the first time in three sales at the latest GlobalDairyTrade auction held overnight, led by butter and whole milk powder.

The GDT Price Index, previously known as the GDT-TWI Price Index, fell 1.9 per cent compared to the last sale two weeks ago. The average winning price was US$4,888 a tonne compared to US$4,980 a tonne.

The average winning price of whole milk powder, the biggest product by volume, fell 2.9 per cent to US$5,058 a tonne while butter fell 3.5 per cent to US$3,780 a tonne.

It is the second auction since Fonterra posted its annual results last month, warning of a challenging first half because of high input costs, with prices of milk powder outpacing gains in cheese and casein. In the latest auction, cheddar fell 1.7 per cent to $4,326 a tonne and rennet casein rose 1.5 per cent to $9,880 a tonne.

The total volume of dairy products sold at the latest auction slipped to 43,261 tonnes from 45,253 tonnes two weeks ago.

The price of anhydrous milk fat fell 1.2 per cent to US$5,007 a tonne and butter milk powder fell 5.2 per cent to US$4,680 a tonne

Milk protein concentrate rose 1.7 per cent to US$7,401 a tonne.

There were 114 winning bidders over 14 rounds. There were 170 participating bidders out of a total number of qualified bidders of 888.