Summary of the week 39

Powders

It might be hard to find quantities of SMP by the end of the year at a reasonable price. As for Q1, many buyers prefer spot transactions and waiting, but the future will show if it will be a good strategy to get the best deals.

Exports are a hot topic now. Whey prices vary. The production is only increased to boost export. Those who are contracted for 2020, look forward to early 2021 to get better deals.
An interesting situation takes place regarding WPC. Producers claim that the demand is rising, while the buyers think otherwise. Those who are interested in feed grade say that the prices are falling.

FCMP is stable at its high levels. As for now, the supply seems to exceed demand. The future seems to look alike for both sellers and buyers which gives hope for easy deals. We could see some price pressure in permeate and lactose – some producers have to offer lower as there is no interest.

Cheese

The demand for hard-type cheese is steady, yet the supply meets seasonal declines. Even though the warehouses are still able to keep up to the needs, the stocks are low and the situation might change soon. Producers may have problems with delivering up to schedule. Many buyers are actively looking for bargains.

Export destinations are still very active. There were fewer inquires for Cagliata last week, but producers are still sticking to their guns.

Butter

Butter prices are quite stable and in some regions they even rose a bit. Butter cubes are now more profitable to sell than butter blocks. There is still a gap between frozen and fresh butter. One have to keep in mind, that the Holiday season is the time when butter sales go up, so the price negotiations might be tougher by the end of the year.

Nonetheless, many producers prefer not to turn their cream into butter. On the other hand many buyers are well covered.

Liquids

Cream rose by about 5% with a little slow down by the end of the week. There are few reasons for that – the demand was higher, the milk intake is getting lower and finally it’s more profitable to sell it as it is rather than convert into butter. SMC also went up which had an influence on the price of powders. Here also, the high price makes the producers resign from turning it into powder.

There was a significant demand for raw and skimmed milk. Only whey – which quantities are diminishing stayed on the similar level to the previous week.