At last week’s event, the GDT declined 3%, bringing to an end a run of four consecutive increases for the benchmark dairy index.

Most worryingly, the average selling price of whole milk powder (WMP) weakened 4% to $2,680/t, while skimmed milk powder (SMP) average prices fell back 4% to just over $2,200/t.

While the outcome of the latest GDT auction was disappointing given the recent period of strong growth, the result was somewhat telegraphed by futures markets, with WMP futures falling more than 8% in the lead up to the GDT auction.

WMP is the most important commodity traded on the GDT, accounting for about 50% of product sold and, as such, the WMP futures market can act as a decent gauge for the performance of the twice-monthly GDT auction.

Following the latest GDT result, the WMP futures market has slipped further and will be a cause of concern for those keeping a close eye on global dairy markets.

In the last week, November, December and January futures contracts for WMP have declined another 3% in price.

The futures market for WMP has now slipped to its lowest point since early August, suggesting that WMP prices may have crested after weeks of buoyant growth.

And while a futures market is never a cast-iron prediction of what will happen in the physical market, it does provide a good barometer of current market sentiment.