Divestment means Fonterra can focus on its strengths
OPINION: Fonterra's board has certainly presented us, as shareholders, with a major issue to consider.
Global Dairy Trade prices are coming back relatively quickly and Fonterra expects whole milk powder prices to keep climbing over the next six months, says Fonterra chairman John Wilson.
The overall index rose by a further 9.9% at the GDT auction last week.
The GDT whole milk powder index lifted 12.9% overnight, with an average price US$2824/MT. The skim milk powder index rose 13.4% with the average skim milk price at US$2267/MT.
"It is good to see prices moving up," Wilson told Dairy News. "We have known right through that the current global prices are unsustainably low.
"They are the result of a unique situation where we had far too much supply in 2014 because of good weather and really high prices globally, so dairy farmers produced more milk. We had the impact of Russia and China -- the two big demand markets of the world -- with Russia closing its market effectively, particularly to European products, and China changing its in buying profile.
"You had this reaction where global dairy prices dropped to unsustainably low levels. We are now seeing that market slowly come back into balance and we believe it will do so over the next six months or so.
"Pleasingly we are seeing it come up relatively quickly and we would expect whole milk powder prices to continue to climb to that US$3000-$3500/MT level over the next six months, maybe earlier. It will depend on where milk production comes from and how much milk is produced globally over the next six months."
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The iconic services building at National Fieldays' Mystery Creek site will be demolished to make way for a "contemporary replacement that better serves the needs of both the community and event organisers," says board chair Jenni Vernon.
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Entries are open for the 2026 New Zealand Dairy Industry Awards (NZDIA).
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OPINION: Voting is underway for Fonterra’s divestment proposal, with shareholders deciding whether or not sell its consumer brands business.
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