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 co-op is now forecasting its New Zealand milk collections for the current 2017-18 season to be 1,480 million kgMS, down from its forecast in November 2017 of 1,525 million kgMS.
Last season was itself was negatively impacted by weather conditions.
The co-op says wet conditions experienced by farmers at the beginning of spring improved from late October and into November, but recent dry weather is continuing to impact soil moisture and pasture quality right across the country. Dry conditions are expected to continue, and even if the rain forecast for early in 2018 eventuates, it will not be enough to bring production back to previously anticipated levels.
Fonterra says it has begun to take volumes of whole milk powder off the Global Dairy Trade platform in response to lower milk supply, and has a programme in place to carefully manage sales both on and off GDT for the rest of the season as a result of the current weather conditions.
