Prices of dairy products fell for the first time in three sales at the latest GlobalDairyTrade auction, led by butter and whole milk powder.
The GDT Price Index, previously known as the GDT-TWI Price Index, fell 1.9 percent compared to the last sale two weeks ago. The average winning price was US$4,888 a tonne compared to
US$4,980 a tonne.
The average winning price of whole milk powder, the biggest product by volume, fell 2.9 percent to US$5,058 a tonne while butter fell 3.5 percent to US$3,780 a tonne.
It is the second
auction since Fonterra Cooperative Group posted its annual results last month, warning of a challenging first half because of high input costs, with prices of milk powder outpacing gains in cheese and casein. In the latest auction, cheddar fell 1.7 percent to $4,326 a tonne and rennet casein rose 1.5 percent to $9,880 a tonne.
The total volume of dairy products sold at the latest auction slipped to 43,261 tonnes from 45,253 tonnes two weeks ago.
The price of anhydrous milk fat fell 1.2 percent to US$5,007 a tonne and butter milk powder fell 5.2 percent to US$4,680 a tonne
Milk protein concentrate rose 1.7 percent to US$7,401 a tonne.
There were 114 winning bidders over 14 rounds. There were 170 participating bidders out of a total number of qualified bidders of 888.
(BusinessDesk)