The European butter index climbed to a record high last week as the average price of whey continued on a downward trend, according to multi-national financial services firm StoneX.

Senior EU dairy analyst at the company, Peter Meehan, explained that the total volume of dairy products traded on the European Energy Exchange (EEX) last week was 1,070t across 214 lots.

This included 470t of butter and 600t of skim milk powder (SMP).

"It was a mixed week for the EU quotations last week, with butter, SMP and whole milk powder (WMP) moving higher, while whey’s average price edged lower again," Meehan said.

"The German and French quotations drove the move, with German butter up €25 (+0.3%) to €7,225 while French butter was up €180 (+2.3%)to €7,960," he added.

"SMP made back-to-back gains last week, up €32 (+0.8%) climbing to €4,092, a four-week high for the SMP index," Meehan continued.

He said that whey recorded its eighth decline in a row last week moving down by €10 (-0.8%) to €1,240.

"WMP saw its first increase in seven weeks last week with its average price up €30 (+0.6%) to €5,155," he added.

It was a stable week for the EEX weekly European Cheese Indices, with all four indices showing small changes.

"The cheddar curd index crept up higher again last week, gaining €25 (+0.4%) to €5,661 and setting a new all-time high in the process," Meehan noted.

Meanwhile, the senior EU dairy analyst also examined data on European milk production.

"April collections are estimated at 1.13 million tonnes, which if realised would equate to a 2.6% decline on last year," Meehan said.

"Spanish milk production slipped further behind last year in April, reported at 632 kilotons, down 2.3% year-on-year as well as falling 1% behind the three-year average for the month," he added.