Tuesday, 10 April 2018 09:55

Milk powder prices still cause for smiles

Written by  Pam Tipa
Emma Higgins, RaboResearch. Emma Higgins, RaboResearch.

Whole milk powder saw a small lift of 1.6% to US$3278/tonne at last week’s GDT auction despite the small decline in overall prices of 1.6%, says Emma Higgins, from RaboResearch.  

This is the highest average price since May 2017, she says.  

“Contract periods out across the new season’s flush were in positive territory and New Zealand product is still trading at a premium to EU and US sourced whole milk powder (WMP).”

Confirmation by Fonterra that milk collections for February 2018 were lower by 4% would have helped this result.  

 The major drivers dragging overall results down were weaker skim milk powder (SMP) prices and a sharp decline in anhydrous milk fat pricing.  

“Yet while the average SMP price dropped by -1.8% to US$1849/tonne there is price support for NZ SMP, which remains at a premium to most European sourced SMP offered.”  

 The northern hemisphere peak will put pressure on prices and there is a risk of higher feed prices globally. This will turn down production pressure over the close of 2018 and into 2019.

More like this

Featured

Brendan Attrill scoops national award for sustainable farming

Brendan Attrill of Caiseal Trust in Taranaki has been announced as the 2025 National Ambassador for Sustainable Farming and Growing and recipient of the Gordon Stephenson Trophy at the National Sustainability Showcase at in Wellington this evening.

National

Machinery & Products

Farming smarter with technology

The National Fieldays is an annual fixture in the farming calendar: it draws in thousands of farmers, contractors, and industry…

RainWave set to cause a splash

Traditional spreading via tankers or umbilical systems have typically discharged effluent onto splash-plates, resulting in small droplet sizes, which in…

» Latest Print Issues Online

Milking It

Misguided campaign

OPINION: Last week, Greenpeace lit up Fonterra's Auckland headquarters with 'messages from the common people' - that the sector is…

Fieldays goes urban

OPINION: Once upon a time the Fieldays were for real farmers, salt of the earth people who thrived on hard…

» Connect with Dairy News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter