Ornua’s Purchase Price Index (PPI) has seen a marginal increase in its latest index for the month of January, the co-operative has confirmed.

The index set for January 2019 is 107.6, adjusted from 107.5 in December 2018.

This converts to 32.2c/L including VAT, based on Ornua’s product purchase mix and assumed costs of 6.5p/L.

The January 2019 index remains largely unchanged from the previous month, with higher SMP and butter prices offset by a combination of lower spot returns and the product mix in the month, according to a spokesperson for Ornua.

While only marginally higher than the October and December indices of 107.5, the latest return still marks the highest value the PPI has been at since last September, when 111.6 was recorded.

Source: Ornua

Strong return in latest GDT

This follows on from the latest Global Dairy Trade (GDT) auction yesterday (Wednesday, February 6) which saw a substantial gain in overall index.

The latest tendering – event 229 – concluded with the GDT Price Index up 6.7% overall, marking the fifth successive rise following a difficult latter half to 2018.

Lasting for two hours and 17 minutes, the event saw 177 participating bidders face off across 15 rounds with 106 winning bidders emerging.

A total of 23,326MT of product was sold on the day.

Key results:
  • AMF index up 5.8%, average price US$5,579/MT;
  • Butter index up 4.2%, average price US$4,445/MT;
  • BMP index down 3.1%, average price US$3,158/MT;
  • Ched index up 1.4%, average price US$3,565/MT;
  • LAC index up 1.3%, average price US$1,035/MT;
  • RenCas index up 10.9%, average price US$5,596/MT;
  • SMP index up 3.9%, average price US$2,534/MT;
  • SWP index not available, average price not available;
  • WMP index up 8.4%, average price US$3,027/MT.

Rennet Casein saw the most significant rise on the day with a considerable 10.9% rise in index, while whole milk powder also fared strongly, recording an 8.4% boost.

Conversely, butter milk powder (BMP) saw a slight drop in index, falling by 3.1% – the only negative return on the day.

Other products saw moderate gains at yesterday’s auction.