It appears that many consumers have now digesting high prices, which is reflecting in the consumption of dairy products. This introduced a bit of uncertainty into the market for buyers, who are not always ready to immediately buy large volumes. After the last GDT event, the price index fell by 5%. For prices of dairy products this meant the fall at the fourth consecutive global auction, which could prompt large producers in the industry to scale back their milk price forecast for farmers. This is the lowest level since February 2021, following a 5% drop in the last fortnightly auction. But it was anticipated as milk prices have fallen since the record high of March 2022, which was mainly because of the disruptions caused by the blockades in China and the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Not to mention heatwaves and economic crises in many countries. Moreover, it is noticeable that China is much less active in the market right now, with fewer purchases of dairy products on their part during the previous week, resulting in more quiet markets and slightly lower product prices. Perhaps this is a good time to start buying.
Continue reading to learn about this week’s market insights.
With us, you’ll never miss a thing!
SMP/FCMP
The recent GDT Event had a great impact on the prices of these two milk powders. However, the decline at GDT does not change the fact that in general we see stable prices in Western and Central Europe.
SWP
For Sweet Whey Powder there were more inquiries in some countries in Europe this week, and the price for the product strengthened slightly. Keep in mind, however, that we’re in the middle of the holiday season and these inquiries are still meager. Some people are already starting to look at offers for the next few months.
WPC Instant
We are seeing fewer spot transactions, but inquiries are starting to come in, and customers are looking around for October and Q4 deliveries. But as extra-EU buyers are offering attractive rates, suppliers are not feeling pressured by the industry. There are one-off transactions at slightly reduced prices, but this is not a general trend – rather a stroke of luck.
Gouda/Edam
For the past two weeks, we have seen increased interest in the cheese market. Customers are accepting higher prices, and producers have decreased stocks which is causing price increases. There are numerous inquiries for Cagliata, and interest in Mozzarella is also boosting. Therefore, we can state that higher prices are appearing for Gouda and Edam, in comparison to last week.
Butter
It has been a rather quiet week in the butter market. The price of German retailers in August is about 200-250 EUR less than in the previous month. Across Europe, the product is at similar prices as a week ago. Many buyers are still on vacation, so we expect similar behavior in the market to continue.
Cream/SMC
There is less milk available, and as we know, less milk intake translates into spot prices, which have just begun to go up. This is all due to warm weather, which is unsuitable for animals. Cream trade rates could be said to begin shaping into more stable, and transactions for the dairy commodity are running quietly. In the case of SMC, there is a high availability across Europe, and therefore spot prices are fairly stable too.
