increase font size
Rabobank says NZ dairy prices are “hanging in there” following last week’s Global Dairy trade auction.
This saw the overall price index fall by only 0.8% compared with the auction held a fortnight earlier. Total volumes sold were 20% lower, associated to seasonal declines and within market expectations.
The NZ dairy sector’s all-important whole milk powder price (WMP) increased by 0.1% to US$2,745/MT compared with the previous GDT. The WMP price was much stronger than the 4% fall indicated by the futures market.
However, prices for butter and AMF took a hit – down 5.8% and 2.4%, respectively.
US-based RaboResearch dairy analyst Tom Bailey says volumes in the last week’s GDT were largely unchanged for both WMP and SMP.
However, there was an increase in butter and AMF volumes, 42% and 3.5% respectively – which explains their price falls.
Bailey adds that North Asian (primarily Chinese) demand was back, with total product volumes down by 45% compared to the previous GDT. He says increased buying from Southeast Asian and Middle Eastern countries buoyed last week’s auction, with purchased quantities up 46% and 37% respectively, against the prior auction.
However, Bailey has sounded a note of caution about the premiums Oceania product is currently maintaining over the international market.
“Oceania’s premiums are somewhat alarming,” he says. “Last week’s prices settled at an average premium of 36% compared to international markets. “Specifically, Oceania butter, SMP, WMP, and Cheddar prices are at 56%, 27%, 13%, and 46% respectively, above the combined average EU and US prices.”
Bailey says these premiums are well above their 2019 comparisons of -3%, 12%, -5%, and 7% respectively. However, it is not unusual for Oceania product to earn price premiums compared to global competitors.
Bailey says there is also a seasonal component and historically Oceania premiums show a tendency to peak February through April, as the region’s milk volumes slow and its products become scarcer.
More than 70 farmers from across the North and South Islands recently spent a dayand- a-half learning new business management and planning skills at Rabobank Ag Pathways Programmes held in Invercargill, Ashburton and Hawera.
A new Indonesian school milk programme is expected to significantly increase the country's total dairy consumption, creating opportunities for New Zealand and other global dairy players.
Twenty rural community hubs across New Zealand will receive $5,000 to upgrade their facilities having been selected as the winners of Rabobank's Community Hub Competition.
New Zealand is so far escaping the unpredictable vagaries of President Donald Trump's trade policies by the skin of its teeth.
The cost of producing milk in New Zealand continues to compare favourably with other exporting regions despite a lift in production costs over the past five years.
The CEO of Apples and Pears NZ, Karen Morrish, says the strategic focus of her organisation is to improve grower returns.
A significant breakthrough in understanding facial eczema (FE) in livestock brings New Zealand closer to reducing the disease’s devastating impact on farmers, animals, and rural communities.
Farmer co-operative LIC has closed its satellite-backed pasture measurement platform – Space.
OPINION: The case of four Canterbury high country stations facing costly and complex consent hearing processes highlights the dilemma facing the farming sector as the country transitions into a replacement for the Resource Management Act (RMA).
The 2024-25 season apple harvest has “well and truly exceeded expectations”, says Apples and Pears NZ chief executive Karen Morrish.
Through collaborative efforts with exhibitors, visitors, and industry partners, Fieldays says it is reaffirming its commitment to environmental responsibility with new initiatives for 2025.
OPINION: The Free Speech Union is taking this one too far.
OPINION: New national data from The Drug Detection Agency (TDDA), a leading workplace drug tester, shows methamphetamine (meth) use is…
