EU prices for raw milk have hit a new low, declining by a further 0.6% to €44.12/100kg last month, according to latest figures by the European Commission.
The average price for raw milk in Ireland in July 2023 was the fourth lowest of EU member states at a price of €39.21/100kg.
In line with the average EU price, Ireland’s raw milk price has been gradually declining since late last year. In July 2022 the price stood at €57.78/100kg.
The conversion factor used is 1.0297 (1.03), i.e. 1L of milk corresponds to 1.0297kg of milk.
Raw milk
The average EU raw milk price in July was below last year’s level of €51.08/100kg, however it remains above the 2021 and 2020 levels of €35.99/100kg and €32.78/100kg respectively.
The estimated raw milk price in Ireland has been declining since December 2022 from an average of €68.18/100kg to €39.43/100kg in June, according to revised EU figures.
Only Latvia, Lithuania and Sweden had an average raw milk price lower than Ireland last month at €33.67/100kg, €33.32/100kg, and €38.74/100kg respectively.
Dairy prices
Latest EU prices of dairy products for the week ending on Sunday, August 13, 2023, show that butter, skim milk powder (SMP), and whole milk powder (WMP) were down on the previous week.
EU prices for butter fell by 0.8% from €458/100kg to €454/100kg. SMP saw the biggest decline at 1.8% from €231/100kg to €228/100kg last week.
The average EU price for WMP dropped by 1.3% from €341/100kg to €339/100kg. Despite a 0.1% increase, the price of cheddar remained the same at €358/100kg last week.
This trend was reflected at the latest Global Dairy Trade (GDT) event earlier this week, where the price index has seen a significant fall of 7.4% to its lowest level since November 2018.
The index for WMP fell sharply by 10.9%, while SMP and butter prices were down by 5.2% and 3% respectively. Only the price index of cheddar saw an increase at 5.8%.