Following a sharp drop at the beginning September, volumes of skimmed milk powder (SMP) sold into intervention across the EU have come to a complete stop since 12 September.

Ireland last used the scheme mid-August. The last countries to put SMP into intervention were Germany and Latvia earlier this month.

As part of the latest EU aid package for the livestock sector, European institutions agreed last month to extend the duration of the scheme, which normally ends on 30 September. However, with dairy commodity prices improving globally, milk processors are now turning away from intervention.

So far this year, the European Commission has taken 255,894t of SMP out of the market through intervention. With the volumes offered last year, there are now around 350,000t in storage under the scheme.

Private storage aid

European milk processors, meanwhile, continue to use aid to private storage steadily. More than 3,000t of butter were taken out of the market under the scheme in the past week, nearly one-third of which came from Ireland. Around 3,000t of SMP were also offered into the scheme.

The Netherlands has been the heaviest user of private storage aid in recent months.

Dairy markets are much improved but threats remain

Dairy intervention flow dries up as milk prices improve

There has been no milk powder offered into intervention in the past two weeks, according to the latest figures from the European Commission.