The Irish Dairy Board’s (IDB) Production Price Index (PPI) for August was down over 3% on the July return and is now at its lowest level since March 2013.
The Index is now trending for seven months downward with falls over that period totalling over 14%. This follows on from a fantastic 2013 for dairy returns, with the Index having only fallen once in 2013.
July’s result is also some 14% behind the same month last year. The June result comes on the back of prices paid at last week’s Fonterra dairy auction being down by 6%, compared with those recorded at the event held late July.
The IDB released its monthly PPI today and it showed a return value of 114.8, which indicates a 14.8% increase in market returns when compared to 2010.
January 2013 saw the Index at 111 and it then rose significantly over the spring and summer months peaking in September at 133.7. It is now over 14% of that high.
The PPI is a rolling monthly indicator of market returns on primary dairy products sold by the IDB, typically butter, cheese, whole milk powder and protein products, relative to comparable returns generated in the base year of 2010.