‘A blow to the industry’

 "We will wait with anticipation for Fonterra's board meeting in December when they will review the payout, but there'll be another GDT before then, so who knows."

Hoggard noted Prime Minister John Key's belief, voiced to Feds' National Council Wednesday morning despite the GDT news, that "GDT has bottomed out and we are likely to see things improve going forward."

But only a day later Finance Minister Bill English said falling dairy prices and low inflation would make returning to economic surplus challenging.

"It was clear from the G20 finance ministers' meeting in Brisbane [Nov 15-16] that growth remains elusive in Europe and more uncertainty in China is being reflected in some sharply lower commodity prices," he told an ASB business breakfast.

"Falls in global commodity prices such as oil, forestry and dairy, together with weak international consumer price inflation, are posing challenges for governments and central banks around the world... New Zealand is not immune to these global trends."

GDT price index fell 3.1% overall with powders plunging 5-6%.

Feds' West Coast provincial president, Katie Milne said Westland's payout forecast of $5.40-5.80/kgMS would be hard to hold with Westland selling more milk powder than anything else.

"Westland suppliers should be prepared that there may be a drop in the payout after the board meeting at the end of the month. However there's nothing wrong with living in hope, and if it does not drop we will all breathe a little easier."