Dairy product prices lift at Global Dairy Trade auction

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Dairy product prices rose 2.7 per cent at the latest Global Dairy Trade auction after four consecutive declines.

The average price was US$3412 a tonne, compared with US$3302 a tonne two weeks ago.

Some 25,000 tonnes of product was sold, up from 24,711 tonnes two weeks ago.

"This follows four consecutive decreases in the index and was likely linked to tighter global milk supplies with demand at this event firming for milk powder, milk fats and cheese," NZX dairy analysts Robert Gibson and Amy Castleton said in a note.

Source / Global Dairy Trade

"Milk powder prices strengthened in response to stronger demand from Southeast Asian countries and the Middle East."

Whole milk powder prices - which have the greatest bearing on Fonterra's farmgate milk price, leapt 3.6 per cent to US$3074 a tonne.

"This was the first lift in average prices for whole milk powder since March," according to Gibson and Castleton. Price levels lifted across all delivery dates out to December, with stronger increases for November and December delivery dates, up 4.0 per cent and 4.1 per cent respectively, the analysts noted.

Among the other so called "reference" products from which the milk price is calculated, skim milk powder prices rose 3.8 per cent to US$2505.

Butter prices rose 1.7 per cent to US$4406/tonne while anhydrous milkfat rose 1.7 per cent to US$5523/tonne.

The New Zealand dollar last traded at US67.01c as of 3.44pm in New York, compared with US67.19c at the previous close in Wellington.
There were 116 winning bidders out of 174 participating at the 13-round auction. The number of registered bidders was 512, up from 509 at the previous auction.

- with BusinessDesk