Most of the major Irish Co-ops have confirmed milk price increases for January milk (see Table 1). Coming from a lower position, Kerry Group leads the charge with a 2c/litre lift, followed by most of the rest lifting December price by 1c/l.

GDT

The 3.2% price fall in the GDT index this week was the sharpest since 3 January, when prices fell by 3.9%. There had been small increases in the two intervening auctions.

Milk powders were back by between 3.8% (SMP) and 3.7% (WMP).

Cheddar and casein prices fell by more than 5%, while butter held its own. The slightly negative price shift was expected on the back of milk supply news that Fonterra collections are not as bad as predicted.

IFA dairy chair Sean O’Leary said: “With EU dairy returns continuing into mid-February around 37c/l gross (before processing costs), co-ops can and must remain on track to deliver 33c/l including VAT (31.3c/l plus VAT) before peak.”

Read more

Irish butter exports to Iran soar in 2016