A second stutter is not the result dairy farmers wanted for the first Global Dairy Trade (GDT) auction of the new year.
The auction lost ground again last week with an overall fall of 1.4% for the price index, on the back of a 2.8% drop in mid-December.
However, it was not all grim reading for the eight commodities. Mozzarella rose 3.6% to $US4173 ($NZ7410), butter went up 2.6% to $US6815 ($NZ12,100) and butter milk powder had just under a 1% gain to $US3116 ($NZ5534). The main ingredient of whole milk powder was back 2.1% to $US3804 ($NZ6756) and skim milk powder was also down 2.2% to $US2682 ($NZ4762).
Just over 140 bidders competed for the 30,156 tonnes of dairy products sold.
The negative results follow a run of three rising auctions from November. Farmers had just got their hopes up again after Fonterra lifted its midpoint forecast last month into record territory of $US10 a kilogram of milksolids, based on a projected range of $9.50/kg-$10.50/kg.
Chief executive Miles Hurrell announced at the time, demand in China and South East Asia was up, but the co-op would continue to monitor any influences shifting global supply and demand.
