It was a dull enough week on the dairy markets front, with no price change for butter on the European market. The current price of €7,260/t remains unchanged from last week and given that it’s a very high price and given the time of year, most producers will be happy to see it stay at that.
It was a dull enough week on the dairy markets front, with no price change for butter on the European market.
The current price of €7,260/t remains unchanged from last week and given that it’s a very high price and given the time of year, most producers will be happy to see it stay at that.
Whole milk powder (WMP) took a small step forward, increasing in price by €15/t to €4,285/t. The price of WMP has been remarkably stable since autumn 2024, with only very slight price changes. Compared with this time last year, WMP is trading for €646/t higher. Doing the same comparison for butter, the prices now are €1,370/t higher, which is remarkable.
However, you can’t run a dairy processing business making just butter and WMP, and this is the problem as skim milk powder (SMP), produced in the manufacture of butter, has a relatively low price of €2,315/t.
To put that in context, this time last year SMP was €2,285/t, so there has been very little movement in SMP prices, which is putting a drag on the overall milk price that can be paid by butter producers.
The weak US dollar is unlikely to be a help to European SMP traders, especially those trading in Asia and Africa.
However, the futures market for SMP shows signs of improvement as the year goes on. Meanwhile, at the Global Dairy Trade pulse auction, SMP prices continue to outperform the European market, with prices there increasing by €13/t this week. Whole milk powder prices also increased at the pulse auction, increasing by €52/t at this week’s sale.
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