The Global Dairy Trade (GDT) Price Index has hit a record high as a result of today’s (Tuesday, March 1) trading event.

The index has been steadily increasing since December and today it recorded growth of 5% compared to the previous auction.

As a result of event 303 the index now stands at 1,593, which is the highest level it has reached in the past decade. On April 13, 2013, the index hit 1,573.

GDT
Image Source: GDT

176 bidders participated in today’s auction where there were 112 winning bidders. In total, 25,208MT of dairy products were sold and the average price paid was $5,065.

The event lasted for two hours and 33 minutes over 17 bidding rounds.

GDT trading event

All of the dairy products offered for sale during today’s trading event saw an increase in prices.

Cheddar climbed by almost 11% to $6,394 and butter increased by nearly 6% to $7,086.

There was a similar price increase for butter milk powder (BMP) to $4,217 and whole milk powder (WMP) stood at $4,757, which is a 5.7% rise.

Skim milk powder (SMP) jumped by 4.7% to $4,481 and anhydrous milk fat (AMF) increased 2% to a price of $7,048.

Lactose stood at $1,634, which is up by almost 1%. Sweet whey powder (SWP) was not offered for sale during today’s event.

According to the recently published GDT annual report, $2.5 billion worth of dairy products was traded during its auctions in 2021. 

Over the 12-month period, 626,747MT of dairy products were traded in GDT events. There were 304 unique bidders from 70 countries; 273 of those were winning bidders.

Milk powders accounted for 79% of products traded.