The outlook for the global dairy market in 2016 is becoming increasingly bearish after today’s latest result from the GDT auction in New Zealand. The benchmark dairy index recorded a third consecutive decline in 2016 with the average product price plunging by more than 7% at Tuesday’s auction.

The drop in prices at the GDT Index this week had been forecasted with futures prices for whole milk powder (WMP) retreating by more than 6% in the last week according to data from the NZX exchange.

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At Tuesday’s GDT auction, the average product selling price was US$2,276/t – a 7.4% decline compared with the last auction and it leaves the index at its lowest point since September last year when that market was practically on the floor.

The decline at Tuesday’s auction was led by WMP prices, which plummeted by more than 10% in average price to below $2000/t. WMP is the key commodity traded on the GDT making up over half of sales.

Butter was also hit hard with average prices back more than 8% while there were also significant declines in the average price of butter milk powder (-6.7%), anhydrous milk fat (-6.6%) and cheddar (-4.2%). Skimmed milk powder prices were also in decline, falling by more than 2%.

Once more, the volume of product sold through the GDT auction platform remains low with just under 24,500t sold. This is a significant supply reduction when compared with the 35,400t of dairy commodities sold this time last year.

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