Ornua has said that its Purchase Price Index (PPI) has recorded another decrease, representing an indicative return for October milk of 41c/L.

The Ornua PPI for the month of October has been confirmed at 140.5, down from the previous month's index figure of 145.7.

Ornua's estimate of member co-ops processing costs was 9.1c/L for the month of October and for the fourth quarter of the year, down from 9.3c/L in September and the third quarter.

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

The estimated processing cost excludes any allowance for member co-op processor margin.

The processing costs are determined through Ornua's initial estimate of member co-op processing costs from 2020 as a base, and indexing the variable elements to external indices which will be updated quarterly in arrears.

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

Ornua said that its indicative return of 41c/L (inclusive of VAT for milk at 3.6% butterfat and 3.3% protein, and net of Ornua's costs to market) reflects weaker market returns for the month of October.

In addition to the indicative return, Ornua announced that the Ornua Value Payment payable to member co-ops in the month is €6.3 million, which equated to 4.6% of gross purchases in the month.

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

Dairy markets

In other dairy market news, the Global Dairy Trade (GDT) index has decreased for the sixth consecutive occasion after the latest trading event yesterday (Tuesday, November 4).

The index fell back by a further 2.4%, for an average price of €3,273 per metric tonne (mt) of product sold.

The index figure now sits at 1,135, the lowest figure since August of 2024.

The current run of decreases in the GDT index (which is updated every two weeks) stretches back to August 19, when the index fell by 0.3%.

That was followed by a decrease of 4.3% for the next index update on September 2.