The Ornua Purchase Price Index (PPI), the monthly indicator of market returns on dairy products sold by Ornua, has risen for the first time in 16 months.
The PPI rose to 81.8 points for July, up from the 81 points the index had in June.
The PPI had dropped significantly over the 14-month period from March 2015 to May 2015, from 101.2 points to 81 points.
Returns on dairy products stabilised in June with prices holding steady.
Meanwhile, dairy product prices rose at last week’s Global Dairy Trade auction, with prices up 6.6% after several weeks of flat prices.
The auction saw whole milk powder (WMP) up 9.9% while rennet casein (RenCas) was the main mover, posting a 16.3% increase.
Skimmed milk powder (SMP) posted a small increase of 2.1% and butter prices were up by 6.6%. The only negative price was cheddar, which was down 0.8%.
The three previous Global Dairy Trade auctions all held steady, with two auctions posting no increases or decreases in prices, while the other was down marginally at 0.4%.
There were significant gains on the NZX in recent days with whole milk powder futures August contract gaining US$5 to US$2245 a tonne, September rising US$90 to US$2530 and the October contract rising by US$120 to US$2650.
Meanwhile, November was up US$85 to US$2680, December was up US$100 at US$2700 and January was up US$90 at US$2710.