After four consecutive increases, the upward run of the GDT came to an end this week as the benchmark dairy index recorded a 3% decline.

With close to 34,000t of product offered at this week’s auction, the decline in the GDT was driven by the falling price of whole (WMP) and skimmed (SMP) milk powder.

The average price of WMP declined almost 4% to $2,680/t, while SMP average prices were also back 4% to just over $2,200/t.

Both WMP and SMP account for almost 75% of all product sold on the GDT.

There were also declines in the price of cheddar (-2%), butter (-0.3%), anhydrous milk fat (-1%), casein (-4%), while the average price of lactose fell 10%.

The only product to record a lift in selling price was butter milk powder, which was up over 9%.

While this week’s GDT result is disappointing, the fall was somewhat predictable given that futures markets for WMP have fallen more than 8% in the last fortnight, suggesting this week’s GDT event was to be a more subdued affair.

Closer to home, Ornua’s Purchase Price Index (PPI) for September has increased 6.4pts to 92.2, the highest level the index has been since June 2015.

This is the third consecutive increase, reflecting the lift we have seen in European dairy commodity prices since May.

Butter quotes from the Dutch Dairy Board have also risen further in the last week to €4,130/t, while WMP quotes increased to €2,700/t.