The GDT recorded a 0.5% decline at this week’s auction in New Zealand. After four consecutive increases, the benchmark dairy index saw a partial decline at this week’s event, mainly due to a fall in the selling price of whole milk powder (WMP).

The average selling price of WMP, which is the most important product traded on the GDT accounting for almost half of sales, was back by almost 1% to less than $3,570/t. Skimmed milk powder prices were flat at just over $2,600/t and were likely not helped by the EU Commission’s decision to begin offloading its more than 350,000t overhang of skim powder currently sitting in intervention across Europe.

Other products to record a decline in average selling prices included anhydrous milk fat (-2%) and lactose (-2%). The dairy commodities to record an increase in selling price were butter (+0.5%), cheddar (+2%), butter milk powder (+3%) and rennet casein (+3%).

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Just over 22,300t of product were sold at this week’s GDT. Today brings to a close the last auction of the year and the GDT finishes in a much healthier position than it did this time last year. The outlook for global dairy markets and dairy commodity prices suggests that they are on a definitive upward trend.