The big news this week was the Global Dairy Trade (GDT) auction, which saw the index fall by 0.6%, eroding the 0.6% gain made at the previous auction.

The big difference this time around is that the main products sold at the auction all dropped, with whole milk powder (WMP) down 2.2%, while skim milk powder (SMP) was down 3%.

This is the first time that SMP recorded a more than 1.5% drop in price since December 2025. At that time, SMP was trading for €2,068/t on the GDT.

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Since then, it has soared by 44% to reach €2,969/t and was even higher before it fell this week.

Given the fact that over three-quarters of all product traded on the GDT is SMP and WMP, the fact that the index did not fall by much is down to a good week for fats, which have been few and far between over the last few weeks.

Anhydrous milk fat increased by a significant 5.3%, while butter itself increased by 1.2%.

Volumes

The volume traded at this week’s auction was up slightly on the last auction but still historically low.

Meanwhile, in Europe, there isn’t much good to report either, with most product categories recording price drops. WMP took the biggest hit, dropping in price by €50/t while butter, SMP and cheddar cheese all fell in price by €25/t.

The other big announcement this week was the confirmation of the merger between Arla and DMK to form a bigger co-op.

The new entity will process around 19bn litres of milk and will have a turnover of just under €20bn. Last week, the European Commission gave the go-ahead for the merger.