Lakeland Dairies has become the first milk processor to announce its price for December, with the board of the co-op meeting to decide a figure today (Friday, January 11).

Lakeland Dairies has held its milk price and will pay 32.06c/L, inclusive of VAT and lactose bonus, for December milk supplies. This is the same as the price paid for November milk supplies.

Lakeland Dairies will also pay an extra 5c/L Voluntary December Bonus to qualifying suppliers, based on peak to trough supply ratios.

In Northern Ireland, Lakeland Dairies has held its milk price at 26.5p/L plus an out of season bonus of 3p/L for December milk supplies.

Year to date, milk supplies have remained strong and were up by 17% in December compared to the same time a year ago, according to a spokesperson for Lakeland Dairies.

While global markets continue to be volatile, the ongoing EU sale of stocks from intervention provides a reasonable level of stability at the start of the year. However, butter prices declined significantly in recent months.

Lakeland Dairies will continue to pay the highest possible milk price in line with market conditions, the representative added.

PPI boost for December

Ornua has confirmed that its Purchase Price Index (PPI) figure for the month of December 2018 rose to 107.5, an increase of over two points.

The figure for the previous month, November 2018, was 104.9, which was a drop from the previous value.

According to Ornua, the increase in December’s index “reflects improved spot and powder returns, off-setting lower butter and cheese prices”.

The index for December is 107.5 (32.2c/L, VAT inclusive, based on Ornua’s product purchase mix and assumed costs of 6.5p/L.

The 104.9 figure in November had been the third lowest of 2018, with only March and April of that year seeing a lower value than that.

80,400t of SMP shifted

Yesterday, it was revealed that some 80,400t of skimmed milk powder (SMP) has been sold from intervention stocks in the latest tender held in Europe.

The product was sold at a minimum price of €1,554.90/t; an increase of approximately 7% in minimum price.

While this is sold at considerable discount, working out at about 19c/L in milk equivalent, the intervention sale price has been experiencing a welcome boost in recent weeks.

Of the product sold, some 13,125t was Irish stock – leaving just over 14,000t of Irish stock remaining in intervention.

Approximately 22,000t of SMP remains in intervention following strong sales in recent months – 380,000t of product has been sold out of intervention over the past 12 months.