The average Global Dairy Trade (GDT) price index increased following the latest auction today (Tuesday, August 18).

This was the third increase in the index in a row.

The index has increased by 2.3%, reflecting an average price for product sold during the trading event of €3,341/t.

The index figure now stands at 1,166, up from 1,140 at the last trading event.

In today's event, there were a total of 176 bidders, which saw 41,054t of product sold.

The auction lasted for just under three hours, during which time there were 130 winning bidders and 18 bidding rounds.

The GDT auction, which is held twice in every month, is a trading platform for core dairy products.

Products

In terms of individual product sub-indices, the biggest performers were skim milk powder, which rose 7.6% to €3,021/t, and mozzarella, which was up 6.1% to €3,652/t.

Cheddar was up 0.6% to €3,230/t; lactose rose 3.2% to €1,559/t; and whole milk powder rose by 3% to €3,098/t.

This latest trading round saw a further decline in the butter index of 2.0%, for a price of €4,391/t.

Anhydrous milk fat also declined, down 6.0% for a price of €5,170/t; while butter milk powder also saw a dip, of 3.5% to €3,927/t.

In the graphic (below) the shaded dials indicate the proportion of each product group sold versus total quantity sold during the previous 12 months, with a three month lag.

Figures within the dials represent the percentage change in GDT price index and the weighted average price.

The upbeat performance by five out of the eight traded commodities is a good indicator of demand, although market uncertainty remains.

Tirlán

In other dairy news, Tirlán has announced its milk price for July supplies, as well as an expanded support package for suppliers battling drought and fodder shortages.

Tirlán said that the support package will be worth a total of €15 million.

On June 18, Tirlán announced a three-month milk price commitment covering milk supplied during June, July, and August.

However, the board has approved a "weather-related adjustment" of 1c/L to the milk price for all three of those months, including June.

As a result, the manufacturing milk price from Tirlán for July milk supplies is 39.08c/L, including the 1c/L Weather-Support Payment and the 0.5c/L Sustainability Action Payment.