Most commodities auctioned on the Global Dairy Trade (GDT) platform on Tuesday fetched higher prices than at the last auction on 4 August, with New Zealand’s flagship whole milk powder leading the pack, up 19.1%.

Irish exporters will also take a close look at the performance of butter (+10.8%), skimmed milk powder (+8.5%) and cheddar (+4.4%).

Lactose (-7.8%) and butter milk powder (-13.8%) were the only two categories continuing their descent.

After hitting its lowest ever value two weeks ago, the GDT price index is now back up to its early July level. However, it remains historically low and the strong short-term increase in the WMP price, at US$1,856/t, cannot hide the fact that it is still aligned with the trough of the 2009 crisis.

Tuesday's rebound took place against the backdrop of many processors moving commodities away from GDT auctions. Just under 37,000t were traded on Tuesday – a 10,000t drop from the volumes sold a fortnight ago, or this time last year.

There was also increasing interest for the tightening supply, with 177 bidders taking part – the highest number observed so far this year.

The past few months' fall in dairy commodity prices illustrated by GDT auctions has prompted Irish co-ops to cut their milk price for July in the past week, including Dairygold earlier on Tuesday.