Dairy markets are very much back to normal over the past week, following some uncertainty over the holiday season when volumes traded were low. Butter and cheese in particular are in demand, with the DCA benchmark price rising by €190/t for the second week of 2025.
Dairy markets are very much back to normal over the past week, following some uncertainty over the holiday season when volumes traded were low.
Butter and cheese in particular are in demand, with the DCA benchmark price rising by €190/t for the second week of 2025.
This is a record high for this time of year and is a positive indication of the direction of travel for the year ahead.
The DCA adds a note of caution, pointing out that milk production in Europe is increasing, but a weaker euro, particularly against the US dollar, the currency for global trade, would make Irish dairy products attractive to international buyers.
Cheese markets are also strong, even if the cheddar price increase has been much less than butter, up €40/t on the previous week.
Supplies are limited and indications are that demand from retail and food service is higher than expected for this time of year.
Dairy powder markets remain sluggish, continuing the trend that persisted throughout 2024. It is the reverse of the cheese market, where there is an abundance of powder stocks and lack of demand, so no immediate positive price change is expected.
The latest USDA WASDE report has revised US milk production forecast for 2025 down from 228bn lbs to 227.2bn lbs, the equivalent of a 300m litre decline.
Latest US dairy export data for November shows an 8.7% decline in US dairy exports, despite a strong performance by butter and cheese with year-to-date exports down by 0.31% .
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