It’s quite the understatement, but there’s a lot going on in the world right now. In the US, the presidential election drama continues to play out (at the time of writing), while Brexit inches closer in Europe.

On top of this, there’s a dramatic rise in COVID-19 cases in many western countries, forcing governments to tighten public health restrictions once again in the face of a second wave. Financial markets are predictably nervy as a result and dairy markets are not immune either.

After a pretty strong recovery over recent months, dairy commodity prices are showing small signs of weakness and market sentiment is very cautious right now. At this week’s GDT auction in New Zealand, average dairy prices dropped 2% with over 35,000t of product sold.

The fall in this week’s GDT auction was led by a 2% drop in the price of whole milk powder (WMP) to just under $3,000/t (€2,560/t). Skimmed milk powder (SMP) prices fared even worse, dropping over 4% to $2,720/t (€2,320/t).

Cheddar prices fell 1% to below $3,790/t (€3,235/t). The only bright spot at this week’s GDT was a 4% rise in butter prices to $2,820/t (€2,405/t).

It’s a similar story in Europe, where prices for cheddar and mozzarella both fell slightly this week. SMP prices have also fallen below €2,200/t. On the bright side, a new retail butter price for Germany has been set above €3,800/t for November and December, which is up €200 on the last price.