With milk volumes expected to finish the year 5% down on 2023, dairy buyers are still trying to secure product and as a result pricing should be “stable to firm”, Ornua has said. Tirlán expects milk volumes to finish up to 5% lower this year than last year. It has collected over 2.2bn litres to date this year, down around 5% on the same period in 2023, a spokesperson said. Higher backend volumes are anticipated in the latter months of this year, compared to an exceptionally challenging end to 2023.
With milk volumes expected to finish the year 5% down on 2023, dairy buyers are still trying to secure product and as a result pricing should be “stable to firm”, Ornua has said. Tirlán expects milk volumes to finish up to 5% lower this year than last year. It has collected over 2.2bn litres to date this year, down around 5% on the same period in 2023, a spokesperson said.
Higher backend volumes are anticipated in the latter months of this year, compared to an exceptionally challenging end to 2023.
Milk supply to Kerry Dairy Ireland is down 6% year-to-date and it anticipates that its milk volumes will be down 5.5% for 2024 on 2023.
Carbery has seen some recovery in milk supply in the second half of the year.
“Our milk volumes are down 5.5% year-to-date at the end of August compared to 2023. Based on a relatively weaker second half in 2023, we are hopeful that the remainder of 2024 will be in line with last year,” a spokesperson for Carbery said.
“We continue to monitor markets closely to determine milk price. Commodity prices have strengthened further in recent weeks, though cheese is recovering more slowly than butter.
“If prices continue to improve further, we would expect our milk price to do the same.”
The latest Central Statistics Office (CSO) data for 2024 shows that milk supply is down 5% across all processors in the year to the end of July.
“This is equivalent to a fall of 280m, with Irish cows producing over 5.3bn litres of milk in the first seven months of the year.”
Outlook
In its EU market outlook for September, Ornua said that concerns have been raised around the bluetongue virus in Germany, France and the Netherlands, however its impact on milk supply “is not clear yet”.
“As it stands, global flows should turn positive as the year progresses, but annual output is likely to be flat. It appears some European buyers are short and still need to secure product in a rising market.
“Thus, pricing should be stable to firm through September, which is usually a busy demand period,” the Kerrygold maker said.
Looking ahead, it said that while there are concerns over supply, buyer activity usually drops from October.
“With European pricing at a significant premium, it is possible sentiment will ease later in the year,” it said.
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