Looking at spot markets over the last week, European dairy prices would appear to have found some much-needed upward momentum, with spot prices for butter holding firm, while prices for cheese, skimmed and whole milk powder all posted weekly gains.

After almost 10 weeks of falling prices, butter markets across Europe appear to have bottomed out in the last week. European butter prices stood at between €4,300/t and €4,350/t on spot markets last week, which is steady compared with the previous week.

Up to this, butter prices had been declining week on week for more than two months, as dairy markets weakened across Europe.

On cheese markets, spot prices have firmed over the last week.

Spot prices for cheddar rose as much as €100/t last week above €3,000/t, while gouda and mozzarella prices were also improved.

On powder markets, prices have also shown some improvement, although returns remain weak overall.

Skimmed milk powder (SMP) prices lifted €50/t in the last week above €1,600/t, while whole milk powder (WMP) prices increased above €2,600/t.

While prices look to be improving in Europe, the reality is that very little physical product is actually changing hands right now. Dairy buyers have nearly all their buying done for the important Christmas period by now and the market is said to be extremely quiet across Europe right now.

Meanwhile, in the Netherlands, Friesland Campina has cut its guaranteed milk price for November by 1c/litre to 38.4c/litre.