“This was underpinned by price increases for all dairy commodities, with smaller overall supply volumes available compared with the previous event, which is typical for this time of year but is likely to have contributed to the uptick in demand,” NZX dairy analyst Robert Gibson said in a note.
The GDT price index rose 2.8% from the previous auction three weeks ago. The average price was US$3371 a tonne, compared with US$3302 a tonne mid-December. Some 33,050 tonnes of product was sold, down from 35,748 tonnes three weeks ago.
Whole milk powder increased 1.7% to US$3150 a tonne. “Prices lifted across all delivery dates, with regular grade prices for March delivery lifting 1.8%,” Gibson said.
Rennet casein jumped 8.6% to US$8973 a tonne, while buttermilk powder rallied 7.4% to US$3040 a tonne.
Skim milk powder climbed 5.4% to US$3026 a tonne.
“Although there were strong price increases for deliveries from March to July, buyers appeared to require significant cover for near-term deliveries which bumped February prices up nearly 12%,” according to Gibson. “This occurred despite skim milk powder offer volumes at this event being up nearly 40% on the previous year.”
Butter increased 3.7% to US$4029 a tonne, while cheddar rose 3.7% to US$4015 a tonne.
Anhydrous milk fat lifted 2.3% to US$4929 a tonne, while lactose gained 2.1% to US$798 a tonne.
The New Zealand dollar last traded at 66.39 US cents, compared with 66.75 cents late yesterday in Wellington.
There were 123 winning bidders out of 188 participating at the 14-round auction. The number of registered bidders was 519, up from 517 at the previous auction.
-BusinessDesk
