There was good gains for whole milk powder (WMP) at last week’s Global Dairy Trade (GDT) auction where it increased by 2.5%. This was followed by a gain of 1.8% at the GDT pulse auction this week.

WMP traded for €3,221/t at the pulse auction, whereas in Europe, WMP prices dipped this week from €3,620/t to €3,600/t, which tells us that European product is at a significant premium to the global price.

It’s a similar story with skim milk powder (SMP), with European spot market prices running at a premium over the GDT prices.

A tonne of SMP in Europe this week was quoted at €2,495/t, while it moved for €2,365/t at the GDT. However, this week’s pulse auction showed strong gains for SMP, upping in price to €2,550/t.

So what does all of this mean? From a market analysis perspective, the GDT auction is the main indicator of market sentiment and that continues to be positive.

As dairy supply in the US, New Zealand and Europe continues to slow down, the sentiments should remain positive. October supplies in the EU were down 2.1% compared with October 2022.

Milk prices in the US fell in October and supplies were back 0.5%, while New Zealand was down 0.3% for October, one of the peak months.

Speaking at the Positive Farmers Conference on Wednesday, Tirlán CEO Jim Bergin said that while the outlook is positive with global supply dropping, customers and consumers are constrained in terms of what price they can afford to pay for dairy.