Milk collections in Europe and New Zealand are down compared to last year, according to dairy analysis from multi-national financial services firm, StoneX.
Cumulative milk collections for June in the 27 EU member states and the UK are almost 1% behind the same month last year at 82.03 million tonnes, Dr. Peter Meehan, StoneX senior EU dairy analyst, said.
European production in June stood at 13.83 million tonnes, down 0.7% year-on-year.
Weighted average fat and protein were both unchanged on June 2021, at 3.95% and 3.35% respectively.
UK milk collections for last month were almost 1% down in a year at 1.28 million tonnes.
“New Zealand milk collections fell sharply behind July 2021, reported at 288 kilotons (kt), down 5.6% year-on-year and 0.1% behind the three-year average,” Meehan said.
Year-to-date milk collections are 8.77 million tonnes, down 5.5% year-on-year.
Meanwhile, Fonterra announced on Friday (August 26) that it was lowering its forecast range for the Farmgate Milk Price for the 2022/23 season.
The mid-point of the range dropped from NZ$9.50 to NZ$9.25, while the milk price range is reduced from NZ$8.75-NZ$10.25 to NZ$8.50-NZ$10.00/kg milk solids.
The processor said that this reflects the downward trend in global dairy prices driven by some short-term softening in demand and the impact of inflation on consumers’ buying habits.
Chinese dairy imports were back significantly last month, with milk equivalent imports down 24% year-on-year.
Meehan noted that US milk production stood at 8.61 million tonnes in July, up 0.2% year-on year due to an increase in milk yield per cow which offset a decline in cow numbers.
Meanwhile, the total volume of dairy products traded on the European Energy Exchange (EEX) last week came to 5,150 tonnes (1,030 lots), with 1,940 tonnes of butter sold and 3,210 tonnes of skim milk powder (SMP).
“EEX butter futures moved higher again last week, up 3.2% on average across the August 2022-March 2023 strip with an average price of €7,201.
“EEX SMP was also sharply higher with its average price coming in at €3,781, up 7% on the week. EEX whey also saw a slight gain, moving up 0.6% on average over its August 2022-March 2023 strip with an average price of €989,” Dr Meehan said.
It was another mixed week for the European quotations with butter slightly lower overall, while SMP, whey and whole milk powder (WMP) posted increases.
On the EEX weekly European cheese indices mild cheddar posted slight declines, but cheddar curd, gouda and mozzarella all moved higher.