The Ornua Purchase Price Index (PPI) has fallen again, with its resulting indicative milk price falling by almost 1c/L.

The Ornua monthly PPI for the month of November is 138, down from the previous month at 140.5.

When Ornua's estimated member co-op processing costs of 9.1c/L are taken into account, this implies an indicative return of 40.1c/L, inclusive of VAT at 5.1%, for milk at 3.6% fat and 3.3% protein.

This is down by 0.9c/L on the indicative price for October of 41c/L.

Ornua's estimated processing costs are based on Ornua’s estimate of the average cost of processing the Ornua basket of products, which is not representative of any individual member co-op processor.

The processing costs also exclude any allowance for member co-op processor margin.

The processing costs are based on a methodology which uses Ornua’s initial estimate of member co-op processing costs from 2020 as a base; and indexes the variable elements to external indices which will be updated quarterly in arrears.

The processing costs will rise and fall quarterly in line with the movements in the variable costs (most notably energy) as per the external indices.

Indicative price

Ornua said the decreased index and indicative price return "reflect weak market returns for the month of November".

Ornua said that the PPI relates to product settlements and payments for the month and, for reasons of seasonality, is "not directly aligned with milk production and payment".

In addition to the above, the ‘Ornua Value Payment’ payable to member co-ops in the month of November is €3.8 million, which equated to 6.8% of gross purchases in the month.

Dairy markets

The latest PPI comes the day after the slide in the Global Dairy Trade (GDT) index continued in the latest trading event yesterday (Tuesday, December 2).

The index fell back by a further 4.3%, reflecting an average price of €3,011 per metric tonne (mt) of products sold.

The index figure now stands at 1,054, the lowest figure since January 2, 2024, when the figure was 1,038.

The index is 290 points behind a 2025 high of 1,344, recorded after the trading event of May 6.

This is the eighth consecutive decrease in the GDT index, with the latest decrease of 4.3% the joint largest decrease in that sequence - the other 4.3% decrease occurring on September 2.