Global dairy markets show a relatively positive picture this week, despite the fact European milk is peaking or about to peak very soon.

Whether you look at US, Oceania, EU or the global dairy trade (GDT) auction results this week, all products show a rise, with skim milk powder (SMP) up 6.4% in the GDT to trade at over $2,044/t. SMP has hovered at just over $1,800 to $1,900 at US, Oceania and EU trades of late.

Cheese and butter again all show a relatively positive picture, with price per tonne ranging from a high of $5,088 in Oceania to between $4,600 and $4,800 for all other countries.

The latest auction at the GDT event this week in New Zealand has seen the average price index rise by 3.1% to $3,139. The price index for whole milk power (WMP) increased by 3.5%, with an average WMP price of $2,998.

Prices for SMP were up by 7.1%, with an average weighted price at $2,044. Butter continued to trade strongly, with the index up by 2.9% on Tuesday finishing at $4,892/t.

The price index for cheddar jumped by 6% to an average price of $3,462 and lactose was up 1.2% to $935.

Overall, there were 22,927mt of product sold over 14 bidding rounds at the latest auction. This represents an 1.3% increase compared with 22,642mt sold at the last GDT event a fortnight ago. Tuesday’s result follows on from gains in the GTD price index at the last two events. The price index rose by 1.6% a fortnight ago and by 1.7% two weeks before this.

When we look at the GDT index for the same week in April for the last three years, the index is at 1,018 (now) compared with 666 for 2016 and 757 for 2015.

Jack Kennedy