The first Kerry Agribusiness forward price scheme will open to suppliers at 3pm next Tuesday 12 June. The indicative price is 31.3c/l excluding VAT at 3.3% protein and 3.6% fat. The scheme is for milk supplied in line with the Kerry milk supply curve from July to October this year and March to June 2019, a spokesperson for the company said.

Suppliers can commit a minimum of 1% and a maximum of 10% of their annual contracted milk volume. When it goes live, suppliers will have just 24 hours to opt in to the scheme online.

Forward prices through futures will be offered on a regular basis rather than fixed price offers. “Hopefully it will form part of a suite of offers for Kerry suppliers to deal with volatility,” the spokesperson said.

Addressing volatility

The ICMSA dairy chairman Gerald Quain welcomed the news. He said volatility is “possibly the single biggest challenge facing the sector and we believe that this Futures option can be one of a suite of measures – along with a Government regulated deposit scheme – that can be used to address that.”

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Kerry to put milk futures on the market

Kerry suppliers will be able to commit between 1% and 10% of their annual contracted milk volume under the new Kerry forward price scheme.