The Ornua Purchase Price Index (PPI) has dropped once again for the month of April, due to another sharp fall in product returns, according to the company.

The PPI index for the month is 99.8 – well down from 106.4 (converting to 31.8c/L) in the previous month.

The April index converts to 29.4c/L, including VAT, based on Ornua’s product purchase mix and assumed costs of 6.5c/L.

A spokesperson for the Irish dairy exporter explained that the reduction is due to sharp falls in powder and butter returns coupled with stable cheese returns.

This follows a reduction in last month’s index from the 111.6 figure (converting to 33.7c/L including VAT) recorded for February.

GDT

The latest Global Dairy Trade (GDT) event concluded with a slight decrease in index, following a hefty drop at the last outing in April.

The latest tender – event 259 – concluded on Tuesday, May 5, with the GDT Price Index down 0.8%.

Lasting two hours and 28 minutes, this week’s event saw 164 bidders participate across 18 bidding rounds, with 113 winning bidders emerging.

A total of 16,442MT of product was sold on the day.

The most dramatic move on the day saw butter milk powder (BMP) plummet by 10.3% in index; cheddar, butter and rennet casein also endured a tough day at the office, with decreases of 6.8%, 5.8% and 5.1% recorded respectively.

On the flip side, lactose saw an increase of 7.9% in index, while skim milk powder (SMP) and whole milk powder (WMP) both saw marginal increases of 0.1% apiece.

Anhydrous milk fat (AMF) also dropped 2.4%. Once again, sweet whey powder (SWP) was not offered on the day.