World dairy prices fall 4.5pc, biggest drop in eight months

Dairy product prices are expected to be volatile. Photo / Sarah Ivey

Prices of dairy products fell by the most in eight months on Fonterra's GlobalDairyTrade platform amid concern demand for commodities may be slowing with China's growth outlook.

The GDT-TWI Price Index fell 4.5 per cent compared to the last sale two weeks ago. The average winning price declined to US$3,396 a metric tonne, the lowest since August 2010.

See the full results here.

The sale is the first on GlobalDairyTrade since Fonterra cut its 2011/12 forecast payout this month, citing the high New Zealand dollar, falling commodity prices and increased production from Northern Hemisphere rivals. The Thomson Reuters/Jefferies CRB Commodity Index fell 1.3 per cent overnight.

The average winning price for while milk powder fell 2.6 per cent to US$3,316 a metric tonne and skim milk powder fell 2 per cent to US$3,125 a tonne.

Anhydrous milk fat dropped 9.5 per cent to US$3,284 a tonne. Butter milk powder wasn't offered at this week's sale.

Cheddar fell 11.3 per cent to US$3,114 a tonne and milk protein concentrate declined 15 per cent to US4,345 a tonne. Rennet casein fell 12.9 per cent to US$6,545 a tonne.

There were 123 winning bidders over 10 rounds, out of 145 participating bidders. The number of qualified bidders rose to 592 from 580.