A decrease of 2.4% in the overall price index was recorded at today’s Global Dairy Trade auction in New Zealand.

This follows on from increases of 0.9% and 0.3% at the two most recent GDT events during the month of September. This is the biggest decrease reported since March of this year.

At today’s event the price index for both skimmed milk powder (SMP) and whole milk powder (WMP) fell by 1.4% and 2.7% respectively.

Meanwhile, the butter milk powder (BMP) index fell by a massive 10.3%; the butter index also dropped by 3.6%. But breaking the downward trend, the price index for cheddar rose by 1.9%.

Key Results
  • AMF index down 3.4%, average price US$6,504/MT;
  • Butter index down 3.6%, average price US$5,837/MT;
  • BMP index down 10.3%, average price US$1,804/MT;
  • Ched index up 1.9%, average price US$4,109/MT;
  • LAC index not available, average price not available;
  • RenCas index up 0.9%, average price US$6,123/MT;
  • SMP index down 1.4%, average price US$1,895/MT;
  • WMP index down 2.7%, average price US$3,037/MT.

There was a total of 132 winning bidders across the 16 bidding rounds at today’s event, which lasted for just over two hours.

GDT

Image source: GDT

Irish milk production jumps by over 11% in August

Recently it was revealed that milk production on Irish dairy farms had jumped by 11.2% in August compared to the same month last year, according to the latest figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

Domestic milk intake by creameries and pasteurisers was estimated at 777.7 million litres for the eighth month of this year. This was an increase of 78.4 million litres.

The total milk sold for human consumption increased by 0.4% to 45.2 million litres, when you compare the milk produce figures for August with the corresponding month in 2016. Butter production was also up 16% to 23,500t, the CSO added.

These increases follow on from a jump in milk production of 9.5% recorded in July.

Furthermore, milk production for the first eight months of this year is 8.1% ahead of last year. A total of 5,461.6 million litres was produced on Irish dairy farms up until the end of August.