The GDT index was down a touch (1.5%) this week – the first in a long time. Butter actually went up 1% at the auction to reach $5,851/t, but the big product for the auction - whole milk powder (WMP) - was down 3.3% to reach $3,867/t. Remember this slight reduction is coming on the back of an exceptional year – probably not as high as the peaks of 2013, but not that far behind.

Farmgate milk price continues to rise as Irish milk supply comes to a seasonal break. The difference between the Ornua PPI and the average farmgate price is now in the region of 5c/litre at base solids.

Irish farmers will be hoping the higher milk prices can be sustained to meet the higher input prices for Spring 2022.

Globally, the cost pressures on farms and the collapse in milk volumes is driving higher prices at farm level and at commodity trading level.

The latest figures put volumes down again for the big players in Europe and it’s the same story for other regions too, with companies and analysts taking down the prospects for milk flows in the US and New Zealand.

So, as the supply draws to a close in Ireland for a Christmas break, so too will trading for a lot of traders, with much happening until the new year when retailers and food service agents will survey the further fall-out from COVID-19, which looks set to have another bite at upsetting the trade in 2022.