The Global Dairy Trade (GDT) price index has dropped by 3.3% following the latest trading event held earlier today (Tuesday, July 4).

The price index now stands at 969, a level last seen in November 2020.

Following the previous auction on June 20, the index remained unchanged from the preceding event on June 6, at 1,002.

During today’s auction, which involved 140 bidders, the average price for products sold was $3,334/MT.

In total, 24,837 MT of produce was sold over 14 bidding rounds lasting just over two hours in total,

All of the dairy products offered for sale during the trading event saw decreases in average price.

Butter milk powder (BMP) saw the most significant fall in average price dropping over 11% to $2,189/MT.

Butter dropped by just over 10% to $4,842/MT, while the average price of skim milk powder (SMP) decreased by 6% to $2,525/MT.

Cheddar was down by 3% to an average of $4,386/MT and whole milk powder (WMP) slipped marginally (-0.4%) to $3,149/MT.

Anhydrous milk fat (AMF) was down by 3.4% in today’s auction to $4,579/MT.

Sweet whey powder (SWP) was not offered for sale and an average price for lactose was not provided.

Processor

In recent weeks, GDT announced that a Belgian processor is set to join the GDT trading events.

Located in the Ardennes in the southeast of Belgium, Solarec has 58 years’ experience in the milk sector, and processes more than 1.5 billion litres of milk each year.

The processor is 100% owned by five cooperatives and operates two production sites supplied by over 2,100 farmers.

Each year, Solarec produces 110,000t of milk powder, 50,000t of butter, and 190 million litres of UHT milk which is sold in 80 countries in all five continents.

The company recently added mozzarella to its product range, with a potential annual production of 32,000t.

Solarec will offer a range of dairy ingredients for at GDT auctions including: Butter; SMP; WMP; and mozzarella.

Source : Agriland July 4th 2023