There was 22,927t of product sold at an average price of US$33139/t.
The number of participating bidders rose by 16 to 173, the largest number of participants recorded in the past three months.
Whole milk powder (WMP) again performed well with the index lifting 3.5%. Regular grade WMP with a June delivery date lifted 9.7%, nearly twice as much as the futures market was expecting. Regular grade WMP was priced at US$3210/t but a large volume of instant WMP sold at a lower price than the regular grade product.
"It was unusual to see regular grade WMP selling at a premium to the higher specification product but we have seen a lot of strength in the futures market recently and it is the regular grade product this market settles against," AgriHQ dairy analyst Susan Kilsby said.
Skim milk powder (SMP) prices exceeded market expectations with the index lifting by 7.1%. All of the Fonterra product on offer traded at a price above US$2000/t. Kilsby said the prices achieved for Fonterra product sold on GDT last night was a little higher than trading seen in other parts of the world.
"The GDT prices indicate there are buyers prepared to pay a premium to source SMP produced in New Zealand – elsewhere in the world there is a glut of SMP but here we are successfully moving product and attaining good prices."
The auction delivered mixed results for butter and anhydrous milkfat (AMF). The index for AMF dropped by 0.5% while the butter price Index gained 2.9%. While it may seem unusual for these products to move in different directions if the prices are compared on a milkfat basis, butter and AMF prices are now very closely aligned, Kilsby said.
Cheese prices also lifted at this event after trending down for the past three months. The Cheddar Price Index lifted 6% with higher prices achieved for September delivery – the only later dated contract for which product was offered.
