There was positive news on dairy commodities this week, with butter prices bouncing back on the Dutch spot market to halt the slide of recent sales.

Close to 10% was knocked off the value of butter prices in the month up to Christmas, as the trade eased from the record levels hit through the autumn.

A high of €7,950/t was reached for butter on the Dutch market in the third week of November. But a fall of €830/t was recorded in the four subsequent sales, to leave butter at €7,120/t in the last sale of 2024.

However, the first sale of 2025 saw butter values recover slightly, with €7,200/t paid in last Wednesday’s auction.

Powders

Powder prices also held up relatively well.

Whole milk powder (WMP) values have been extremely strong since last autumn and were unchanged at €4,430/t.

Skim milk powder (SMP) at €2,550/t was back from the recent high of €2,670/t, which was achieved in the sale of 11 December.

The Dutch auction results broadly tally with trends recorded in the latest Global Dairy Trade (GDT) in New Zealand and with Ornua’s purchase price index (PPI).

Although the GDT was back 1.4% overall this week, the butter price recorded a 2.6% rise to €6,536/t.

SMP and WMP were back 2.2% and 2.1% respectively. SMP was trading for an average of €2,572/t, with WMP on €3,648/t.

Ornua’s PPI recorded its fifth consecutive increase since July when jumping 1.7% to 159.3 for December supplies. This equates to an indicative farmgate price of 45.42c/l (excluding VAT).

The Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association (ICMSA) claimed that current dairy markets justified a VAT-exclusive base price of 47.7c/l (50c/l VAT inclusive).

ICMSA dairy chair Noel Murphy pointed out that milk supplies and commodity supplies remained tight globally.

Murphy said creameries needed to reward farmers for staying in dairying and this meant paying a milk price that delivered “a consistently good income”.