The latest Global Dairy Trade (GDT) auction in New Zealand has seen the index price fall for a third consecutive time – suffering the largest decrease seen in months.

The overall price index fell by 3.5% from the most recent event last month. This follows decreases of 1% shown at the last event on October 17, and 2.4% on October 3.

This is the largest fall in price since January of this year, when the first GDT auction of 2017 dropped by 3.9%. Lasting for two hours and nine minutes, today’s auction featured 14 rounds of bidding with a total of 133 winning bidders.

The biggest change in the GDT auction saw butter milk powder (BMP) jump by 7.2%, having not been on offer at the last event. However, whole milk powder (WMP) suffered a sharp decline of 5.5% and rennet casein (RenCas) also dropped by 4.0%.

Meanwhile, on the co-op front, it has been confirmed that an agreement has been reached over a pay dispute between Kerry Group and 290 workers at its Listowel plant.

The dispute was settled on Friday, November 3, after workers and management came to an agreement – following a series of 24-hour strikes since the end of September.

On September 26, approximately 290 workers took part in the first 24-hour work stoppage at the dairy processing plant.

Following discussions between management and workers, it is understood that an agreement has been reached in relation to: pay up until mid-2020; the implementation of SAP IT technology; as well as operational procedures on-site.