The Global Dairy Trade (GDT) price index has reported its second increase in a row following the latest trading event.
As a result of trade event 331 held today (Tuesday, May 2), the price index rose by 2.5%.
This follows an increase of 3.2% after the previous auction on April 18, which marked the first gain for the dairy commodity index since February.
Despite the two recent bounces, the GDT index remains at levels last seen in late 2020.
During today’s auction, the average price for products sold today was $3,506/MT.
In total, 23,265 MT of produce was sold over 19 bidding rounds lasting almost two hours and 40 minutes.
The majority of the dairy products offered for sale during the trading event saw increases in average price.
Skim milk powder (SMP) increased by 1.5% to $2,787/MT and cheddar rose by 4.5% to an average of $4,561/MT.
There was a 2.4% increase for butter to $4,947/MT, whole milk powder (WMP) climbed 5% to $3,230/MT and butter milk powder (BMP) rose 0.8% to $2,468/MT
Following a gain of 4.7% on April 18, anhydrous milk fat (AMF) was down by 2.4% in today’s auction to $4,832/MT.
Sweet whey powder (SWP) and lactose were not offered for sale at today’s event.
GDT
In recent weeks, GDT has announced that two US dairy processors are to begin offering skim milk powder (SMP) at GDT events this summer.
Valley Milk was established by five multi-generational California dairy families, nutritionists, and veterinarians.
The company operates a state-of-the-art milk processing facility on a 30ac site at Turlock, California, supplied by 18 family owned dairy farms.
The plant has the capacity to process 2.5 million pounds of raw milk per day to produce a full range of premium milk powders including whole milk powder (WMP), vitamin fortified SMP and infant formula grade SMP.
Meanwhile, Darigold, Inc. will be offering SMP at GDT events from next month.
Owned by over 350 dairy farmers in Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington, Darigold is one of the largest dairy processors in the US, supplying retail, foodservice, commodity and specialty markets.
The co-op processes over 4.5 billion kilograms of milk solids at 11 plants annually, exporting upwards of 40% of its production to customers in more than 30 overseas markets.