Dairy markets received a further boost on Tuesday after the GDT dairy index posted its tenth consecutive positive result since December.

At Tuesday’s auction in New Zealand, average dairy prices sold on the GDT auction platform rose 0.5% to just under $3,450/t (€3,050/t).

The benchmark dairy index was led higher by increased returns for dairy fats. Prices for butter, cheddar and anhydrous milk fat were all up at this week’s GDT auction, more than offsetting a slight fall in whole milk powder (WMP) prices.

Butter prices jumped almost 4% this week to reach $5,545/t (€4,905/t), which is the strongest price level for New Zealand butter in nine months. This puts New Zealand-made butter almost €700/t ahead of European butter prices.

Cheddar

Cheddar prices rose 1.5% at this week’s GDT auction to reach $4,320/t (€3,820/t), while anhydrous milk fat prices increased more than 4% to hit $6,125/t (€5,420/t).

On the powders side, the price of skimmed milk powder (SMP) increased marginally (+0.2%) to reach $2,460/t (€2,180/t). The price of WMP, which is the most important dairy commodity traded on the GDT platform accounting for more than half of product sold, fell almost 1% this week to $3,270/t (€2,895/t).

The volume of product sold at this week’s GDT was quite small at less than 16,200t.