Ornua’s Purchase Price Index (PPI) has recorded its highest monthly increase this year by jumping 3.3 percentage points in September.
By reaching 114.3% for the ninth month of this year, Ornua’s PPI has reached its highest level in three years. Last month’s PPI value surpassed the 111.6% recorded in September 2014.
This announcement by Ornua represents the fifth consecutive monthly increase recorded in 2017.
Ornua’s Purchase Price Index for September is 114.3, up from 111 in August. For more info on the PPI; https://t.co/NKR4oF3Qij pic.twitter.com/1PVFqsD3t7
— Ornua (@ornua) October 11, 2017
An increase of 0.9 percentage points was recorded in the PPI for August – bringing the value to 111%. Ornua’s PPI for the seventh month of the year equated to 110.1%.
This increase is sure to be welcomed by farm organisations who are calling for processors to increase their milk prices for September supplies.
‘Milk price increase justified’
A milk price increase for September supplies is justified, despite the price index falling by 2.4% at the latest Global Dairy Trade (GDT) auction (October 3), the Chairperson of the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association’s (ICMSA’s) Dairy Committee, Gerald Quain, said.
Quain believes that ongoing increases in dairy product prices at recent GDT events – particularly butter – over the course of September should deliver a further price increase for Irish dairy farmers in their September milk payment.
The price increases witnessed at GDT auctions in September follow on from “sustained increases” in the last six months, he added.
However, last month Dairygold CEO Jim Woulfe outlined that it would be “steady as she goes” where milk prices are concerned for the next few months.
Speaking to AgriLand, Woulfe said: “I see the next six months – so right up until April of next year – being ‘steady as she goes’. After that, I wouldn’t hazard a guess at this point and time. It is a subject of supply and demand; that is the biggest challenge.”
Processors are set to meet in the coming days and weeks to decide on their milk prices for September.