The big news from dairy markets this week was the big decline at the Global Dairy Trade (GDT) auction.

The headline figure of a 4.9% decline in the index was bad enough, but some individual categories experienced bigger falls.

Cheddar cheese, for example, fell in price by a staggering 12.3%, while skim milk powder (SMP) continued its downward trajectory falling in price by 7%. Butter prices at the auction fell by 5%, while whole milk powder (WMP) fell by 4.4%.

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Overall, it was a very negative result, but not unexpected, given the general negativity in dairy markets.

The only bright spark was the tonnage sold, up at over 26,000t, which is a high quantity for the time of year.

On closer inspection, it looks like the SMP peak has been met, with SMP at the GDT down to €2,746/t, which is still higher than the spot market price in Europe at €2,675/t.

The GDT SMP is now back over €300/t on where it was. Incidentally, the European price for skim has actually increased this week, up over €175/t on where it was last week.

All of this indicates that the market is jittery enough about direction.

The latest statistics on milk supply from New Zealand are unlikely to fuel much more positivity around milk price, with May volumes up 5% in terms of milk solids.

It has been an exceptionally good summer and autumn for New Zealand, with almost 500 million extra litres produced over the last five months compared with 2025.

The latest market report from Ornua has it that global milk supply is up 3.6% in the first five months of 2026 and, within that, European supply is up 3.8%.