The Global Dairy Trade (GDT) index is unchanged after the latest auction event today (Tuesday, March 18).

The index remains at 1,251, which reflects an average price per metric tonne (mt) of dairy product sold today of €3,888/mt.

The value in euro is converted at a rate of around 91.6c per US$1.

Of the 12 most recent auction results (including today), dating back to October 1, 2024, the index has seen six increases (the most recent on February 4); five decreases (including the two most recent auction results before today); and the unchanged result today.

175 bidders participated in today's auction, with 111 winning bidders emerging across 18 bidding rounds. The duration of today's event was two hours and 47 minutes.

In all, 19,540mt of product was sold.

Looking at the dairy product category sub-indexes, the most notable result was for mozzarella, the index of which increased 5.1%, reflecting an increase of €4,308/mt.

Outside of that, the changes in sub-index were more marginal. The butter index increased by 1.1% for an average price of €7,022/mt, while the cheddar index increased by 1% for an average price of €4,558/mt.

The lactose sub-index increased by 0.5% for an average price of €1,067/mt, while the whole milk powder (WMP) index increased by 0.2% for an average price of €3,711/mt.

On the flip side, the anhydrous milk fat (AMF) index decreased by 0.5%, reflecting an average price of €1,067/mt, while skim milk powder (SMP) decreased by 0.4% to €2,499/mt.

On this occasion, there was no average price or percentage change available for butter milk powder (BMP).

Closer to home, Dairygold has announced today that its quoted milk price for February has remained unchanged at 50c/L.

This price is based on standard constituents of 3.3% protein and 3.6% butterfat, including sustainability and quality bonuses, and VAT.

The dairy processor said that the February early calving bonus of 5.26c/L, including VAT, will be paid on milk supplied in February, in accordance with milk quality criteria.

This will increase the attainable Dairygold milk price to 55.26c/L, at standard constituents.

Today’s announcement equates to an average February farm gate milk price of 63.4c/L, based on the average February 2025 milk solids achieved by Dairygold milk suppliers, the dairy processor said.