Dairy product prices slip, though whole milk powder gains
Market struggled to absorb the extra volume of product available.
Dairy product prices fell at the Global Dairy Trade auction, dropping for the third time in four auctions, amid concern about extra supply.
The GDT price index slid 1.6% from the previous auction two weeks ago to $US3343. Some 32,768 tonnes of product was sold, up from 26,688 tonnes at the previous auction.
Whole milk powder rose 1.3% to $US3155 a tonne.
"The market struggled to absorb the extra volume of product available on GDT which does not bode well for the coming months when offer volumes continue to lift in line with the seasonal lift in New Zealand's milk supply," AgriHQ dairy analyst Susan Kilsby says.
At the latest GDT auction, butter fell 4.9% to $US5747 a tonne, while anhydrous milk fat dropped 4.9% to $US6289 a tonne.
"While milk-fat prices fell at the latest GDT event, they are still quite high historically," Ms Kilsby says.
"The falls in the price indices at the August 1 event does indicate that buyers are starting to resist paying such high prices for milk fats."
Cheddar fell 4.8% to $US3932 a tonne, while rennet casein declined 4.4% to $US6122 a tonne.
Lactose retreated 4.3% to $US787 a tonne, while skim milk powder dropped 3.0% to $US1966 a tonne.
Bucking the trend, butter milk powder rose 0.4% to $US2198 a tonne.
The New Zealand dollar last traded at 74.77USc at 2.30pm in New York, compared with 75.12USc at 5pm in Wellington yesterday.
There were 129 winning bidders out of 162 participating at the 14-round auction. The number of qualified bidders fell to 521, down from 525 at the previous auction.
(BusinessDesk)
Margreet Dietz
Wed, 02 Aug 2017
Wed, 02 Aug 2017
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Dairy product prices slip, though whole milk powder gains
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