International milk prices and volumes fell in this month’s first Global Dairy Trade auction held by GDT Events, reported Reuters. 

The GDT Price Index fell 1%, with an average selling price of $4,981 per tonne, in the auction held on Tuesday.

The index fell 0.9% at the previous sale, according to GDT Events.

A total of 21,511 tonnes was sold at the latest auction, falling about 7.9% from the previous one, the auction platform said on its website .

The prices of various dairy commodities remain as follows :

AMF index down 2.5%, average price US$6,908/MT
Butter index down 0.6%, average price US$6,891/MT
BMP index up 6.3%, average price US$4,461/MT
Ched index up 2.7%, average price US$6,472/MT
LAC index down 0.6%, average price US$1,598/MT
SMP index up 1.0%, average price US$4,599/MT
WMP index down 1.5%, average price US$4,532/MT

The auctions are held twice a month, with the next one scheduled for 19 April.

The auction results can affect the New Zealand dollar as the dairy sector generates more than 7% of the nation’s gross domestic product. The New Zealand milk co-operative, which is owned by about 10,500 farmers, controls nearly a third of the world dairy trade.

GDT Events is owned by New Zealand’s Fonterra Co-operative Group Ltd, but operates independently from the dairy giant. US-listed CRA International Inc is the trading manager for the twice-monthly Global Dairy Trade auction.

Source : Reuters and Global Dairy Trade platform 06 April 2022