Battle for milk
OPINION: Fonterra may be on the verge of selling its consumer business in New Zealand, but the co-operative is not keen on giving any ground to its competitors in the country.
The Global Dairy Auction suffered its sixth successive fall last night with the average price index dropping 4.3% to US $2,412/MT.
The auction saw a price decline for almost all products offered.
Fonterra’s key product whole milk powder dropped 3.1% to US$2,309/MT, while skim milk powder declined 1.3% to US$1,982/MT.
However, butter saw the biggest decline dropping 10% to an average price of US$2,619/MT.
Large declines were also seen for anhydrous milk fat and butter milk powder, which fell 7.4% (US$3,112/MT) and 7% (US$1,795/MT) respectively.
Lactose and rennet casein also fell, with lactose down 6.9% to US$540/MT and rennet casein dropping 4.4% to US$5,789/MT.
Some 27,111 tonnes of product was traded, 4.4% more than at the previous auction.
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