The upside influencers are beating the downside influencers at the moment, helping a more positive sentiment.

However, it is fair to say it is not enough to lift prices, but it is currently holding product prices.

The hangover of the New Zealand drought is still influencing the market, reflected in positive results in the last number of GDT auction results.

Remember, the last auction rallied 4.9% overall, which was the biggest increase for over a year, with butter up nearly 9%.

Powders have also had a good couple of weeks.

German-origin whole milk powder (WMP) increased €30 to €2,545/t, with Dutch-origin powder putting on twice that level to settle at €2,500/t, while French increased to €2,600/t.

Skim milk powder (SMP) has strengthened slightly, but not enough to get overly excited about.

The intervention product is the other hangover that is this time working against price rise and is cooling sentiment.

On cheese, the official EU cheddar price is put at €3,100 (£2,700). That price is from all EU countries, and it is at the sort of level which means some buyers are dipping into the market.

Supplies

On the supply side, the UK is about line ball with last year, EU milk volumes in November were up 6.13% on 2016, while US milk volumes in December were up about 1.1%.