It was another magnificent week for butter prices, with prices soaring by €215/t to hit €7,215/t in Europe.

The last time they were this high was in June 2022 when dairy prices peaked.

At that stage, butter prices maxed out at €7,400/t, so we are almost back at that price again.

There was a period of almost six months where butter prices were above €7,000/t. The futures market is suggesting that there are more gains to come in European butter over the coming months, with the EEX futures predicting €7,500/t by October.

However, the big price rises are more or less limited to butter and limited to Europe.

The good thing about that is that Irish co-ops are big players in butter and therefore should be in a good position to capitalise on that.

But it’s not the same as 2022, because the other key products such as skim milk powder (SMP) are nowhere near their 2022 price.

SMP is currently at €2,345/t, while it was at €4,100/t in the peak of 2022.

It’s a similar story for cheese and even though cheddar is going well, it’s still over €1,200/t behind the peak 2022 price.

The latest supply figures out of the Netherlands shows a 3.15% decline in milk supply for July 2024 compared with July 2023 and this is on top of a 2.2% decline in June.

Changes to the nitrates rules and bluetongue outbreaks are being put down as the main reasons for the decline in supply. In the US, milk supply for June is back 0.8% compared with June 2023 and this is having an effect on exports.