Amid calls from farming organisations for dairy processors to hold their September milk price Lakeland Dairies is the first out of the blocks to set its September milk price.

Its board met on Tuesday and a spokesperson for Lakeland Dairies said it would be holding its September milk price at 26.25c/L – the same price as its August milk price.

Kerry Group and others are expected to announced their milk price later this week.

World Trade Impacts Milk Price

The calls told hold September milk prices comes as the most recent Global Dairy Trade saw dairy product prices rise 9.9%.

The event represents the fourth positive auction for prices in a row after prices rose last month for the first time since March 2015 after 10 negative auctions.

Average prices paid at the auction rose 9.9% on the last event held three weeks previously which itself was up 16.5%.

Milk Markets

Meanwhile, milk markets are expected to tighten in the first half of 2016, as low milk prices in New Zealand  and further price falls elsewhere put the brakes on milk production, according to Rabobank Global Strategist Tim Hunt.

He said in that milk production appears to have continued to expand faster than demand in recent months in Rabobank’s Dairy Quarterly Q3 2015.

The EU was the key driver of supply growth during the period, as investment timed to coincide with the removal of quotas came online however, according to Rabobank, most regions continued to expand production, it said.