The Ornua Purchase Price Index (PPI) has dropped for the month of March, due to a sharp fall in product returns, according to the company.
The PPI index for the month is 106.4 and is well down from the 111.6 figure (converting to 33.7c/L including VAT) recorded for February.
A spokesperson for the Irish dairy exporter explained that the reduction is due to sharp fall in powder and butter returns, coupled with stable cheese returns.
Slight lift in latest GDT
The latest Global Dairy Trade (GDT) auction concluded with a slight lift for the GDT index overall, marking the first increase in five events.
The most recent – event 257 – concluded yesterday, Tuesday, April 7, with the GDT Price Index up 1.2%.
Lasting two hours and 31 minutes, the auction saw 160 bidders go head to head over 20 bidding rounds with 107 winning bidders emerging.
A total of 20,302MT of product was sold on the day.
Rennet casein dropped by 2.6% in index, while the skimmed milk powder (SMP) index saw a dip of 0.8.
However, on the flip side, it was a good day at the office for butter, which increased by 4.5% in index, and lactose, with a rise of 4.4%.
Whole milk powder received a boost of 2.1% while there were modest index gains too for anhydrous milk fat (AMF), up 0.4%, and cheddar.