Weak supply keeping prices high
Weaker milk production in the Northern Hemisphere is keeping dairy prices high.
Global dairy prices eased slightly overnight, however whole milk powder price rose 1.6%.
The Global Dairy Trade (GDT) index dropped 0.6% compared to the previous event; pulled down by a 7% drop in anhydrous milk fat (AMF) price. Skim milk powder also slumped 1.8%.
However whole milk powder price is holding up; rising to US$3278/metric tonne.
Butter also rose, up 4% to nearly US$5500/MT.
Key results
AMF index down 7.0%, average price US$5,806/MT
Butter index up 4.1%, average price US$5,494/MT
BMP index up 1.0%, average price US$1,988/MT
Ched index up 2.2%, average price US$3,679/MT
LAC index up 1.1%, average price US$549/MT
RenCas index up 12.1%, average price US$5,668/MT
SMP index down 1.8%, average price US$1,849/MT
WMP index up 1.6%, average price US$3,278/MT
Reeling from two consecutive years of heavy losses, Alliance says it has appointed Craigs Investment Partners to explore external capital-raising options.
Meat company Alliance has posted a second consecutive trading year of a heavy loss.
Red meat farmers are warning that wholesale conversion of farms into forestry to achieve climate change targets will be unsustainable for the country.
Silver Fern Farms chief executive Dan Boulton says his recent visit to China has left him feeling optimistic about the situation there for the meat industry.
Fonterra leaders are making their case for offloading the co-operative's $3 billion consumer business, noting that its return on capital has been nowhere near respectable.
The horticulture sector is a big winner from recent free trade deals sealed with the Gulf states, says Associate Agriculture Minister Nicola Grigg.
OPINION: Fonterra may have sold its dairy farms in China but the appetite for collaboration with the country remains strong.
OPINION: The Listener's latest piece on winter grazing among Southland dairy farmers leaves much to be desired.