Ireland has offered 261t of skimmed milk powder (SMP) for EU intervention, according to documents released by the European Commission on Wednesday.

This is the first time Ireland has used intervention since the last large-scale milk price crisis in 2009.

Some 701 tonnes of Irish butter were also placed in EU-assisted private storage - a lower amount than in previous weeks.

Since the beginning of the Russian embargo on European dairy products last year, Ireland has now used all market supports available from the European Commission.

The Irish price reported to the EU Milk Market Observatory has been below intervention price for the past few weeks. EU milk prices reported to the MMO for the week ending 6 September have shown a modest increase for a majority of products.Some 14,605 tonnes of milk powder have now gone into intervention from EU member states, with Ireland the latest.