The New Zealand Global Dairy Trade (GDT) auction result this week recorded a significant rise of 5.9% on the previous result.

All dairy products saw a significant rise, with whole milk powder (WMP), butter and skim powder (SMP) leading the charge.

The average cumulative lift for the last three auction results has seen a 13% increase over the last six weeks.

WMP is now up to over $3,200/t, with butter pushing on from $5,300/t. Cheddar is now up to $3,700/t.

Ornua PPI

Based on this and other positive sentiment, the Ornua PPI (released Wednesday 7 February) for January remains unchanged at 111.3 (33.6 cpl, VAT inclusive, based on Ornua’s product purchase mix and assumed costs of 6.5ppl).

It reflects reduced returns for butter and SMP, offset by less lower-priced spot purchases in the month compared with December 2017.

Butter

The most recent quotes for Friday 2 February show western Europe butter trading at a minimum of just under €4,000/t at €3,993, down very slightly from a minimum of €4,025/t from 19 January.

The other key product for this time of the year is WMP and the most recent western Europe minimum price is €2,448/t, up slightly from €2,432/t. The best prices for WMP rise to €2,609/t.